Til Forever Runs Out
by ScaliaFics94
Summary: PART II of Whenever You're Ready. Scott and Malia are in their junior year of college. They've never met, but they instantly feel like they know each other. They can't quite explain how, but the more they figure out about each other the more they want to find out why they know those things. AU/OOC. Smutty. Expect everything to be different.
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: If you haven't read my other completed fic Whenever You're Ready then I suggest you read that one before this, otherwise this won't make as much sense. But for whatever reason, if you don't want to read the whole fic than you can skip to the last chapter in that and scroll to SCOTT'S POV at the very end. I advise against that because this fic will draw back from the original and tie into that moving forward.

The song for this fic is Alex Vargas - Til Forever Runs Out (mahogany sessions)

SCOTT'S POV:

The next morning Lacrosse practice was like any other practice nowadays; exhausting and unfilling. At one point, it was the highlight of my day. It was the reason I was able to afford college without loans and it was something my mom and I shared. Then we didn't share anything because she died.

As I left the library my phone vibrated in my back pocket.

My dad.

I hit ignore then proceeded to meet Allison by the fountain.

She sat with her knees propped up and her books around her. She grinned up at me. "Hey, superstar."

I waved it off. "Don't call me that."

"You seriously need to learn how to laugh. Your state of depression is really bringing us all down, Scott."

"My mom died."

She nodded. "I know. I was there. Stiles, too. And it's been three months. When my dad died I mourned him, I acted out, and I moved on. You have to talk to somebody."

My head shook. "And tell them what exactly? That my mom died because she got into the middle of our business?"

Her eyes glanced around, then she moved closer. "That wasn't our fault. It wasn't your fault, Scott." Her hand went to my shoulder.

"I know," My jaw clenched. "It's my dad's fault."

She fell silent.

If my father wasn't a deadbeat then I could get past feeling like he did nothing to help us or my mom, that things could've been different. Maybe my mom would still be alive. Or maybe she wouldn't. But the one thing I knew for sure, if Peter Hale hadn't turned me then none of this would've happened. She'd still be alive.

"Do you want to get dinner?"

A huff left her. "Sure."

I helped her gather her things. She protested when I put her pack on my shoulder, but I did it anyway. I'd do a lot for her.

My gaze fell on her as we walked to the dining hall for what was sure to be a disappointment of a dinner. Allison was beyond beautiful. Her dark locks fell well past her shoulders. She carried her head with a confidence that she could completely take care of herself, but her shyness prevented her from putting herself out there in the way she wanted. She only ever had one boyfriend in high school and none since we started college. Jackson Whitmore. I hated him with everything I had. Not just because he was the co-captain to my team and a dick, but because he managed to manipulate someone as sweet and smart as Allison to fall for him. And she fell hard when he cheated on her under the school bleachers during a game. Needless to say, I almost killed him. Why she chose to be with someone like him was beyond me.

She looked at me and smiled. "Is there something on my face?" She asked as we entered the dining hall.

My head shook. "No," I muttered. She was just everything I wanted and couldn't have.

She'd never see me in the same light as I saw her. I couldn't much blame her. We grew up as best friends, then Stiles moved to town in sophomore year and everything changed. There weren't just two of us anymore, there were three. Not that I had a problem with that now, I just recognized it for what it was at the time.

She spotted Stiles and rushed forward with her plate of food.

I followed behind her.

Stiles looked up from his book on Polish warfare. "Look what the cat dragged in," He stole one of her curly fries.

She blushed, but rolled her eyes.

He looked at her with a smirk, then handed her back her beanie and reading glasses. "You were right Scott, girls did respond to me differently with this nerd look."

I nodded.

Allison rolled her eyes as she put her beanie and glasses back on. "And who exactly did you attract? Lydia Martin?"

He stole the rest of her fries. "So what if I did?"

She looked to me.

I shrugged.

"I just don't think she's good enough for you." She leaned forward. "You could do better, Stiles."

His brow arched. "You don't know her, Allie."

"Maybe not, but I knew plenty of Lydia Martin's growing up."

"What do you have against her?" He sat back in his chair and ruffled his hair.

She fixed her glasses. "She's a player and I don't want to see you get hurt."

He held his hand to his chest. "Well, I'm a big boy and I can handle myself." He rose with his book and his bag slung over his shoulder. "I'll see you guys later." He slapped my shoulder and kissed her cheek.

I looked over at her.

She pressed her mouth together and picked at her food. "Please don't start."

I grabbed my apple and stood. "If you want Stiles to notice you, then you have to put yourself out there. Tell him how you feel."

"I can't." She reiterated.

I leaned down to her face. "Then he'll eventually find someone else." I kissed her cheek.

I was aware I should take my own advice, but there was no point in telling one of my best friend's I was into her when she was clearly into my other best friend.

My phone vibrated. I sighed when I saw my dad's name on the screen again.

"What?"

He sighed of relief. "Scott, you answered."

"You wouldn't stop calling."

"If you'd pick up I wouldn't have to call so often." He cleared his throat. "How's school been?"

I nodded at a few people I knew in passing. "Considering I've only been back for a few days it's been normal."

There was a moment of silence.

"Was there something you wanted?" I asked.

"How about to have a conversation with my son?"

I glanced around my surroundings. "Not if I can help it." I felt bile rise in my throat from the approaching conversation. "You said you'd give me space and I still need that from you."

"We need to be able to talk about what happened, Scott."

"Maybe one day we will be able to, but not yet." I slid the phone from my ear and pressed end call.

That night I tossed and turned in my bed until I accepted that sleep wouldn't come. I needed the air to clear out my mind. Walking this campus late calmed me down in the past. Everything was closed so campus was relatively quiet. A few people wandered across the grounds but it was essentially a ghost town. I liked the quiet. There was no one stressing over not doing the reading or making out in hidden corridors that weren't so hidden.

My dad's call stuck in my head like a song on repeat that I despised.

The sound of strings plucked and the melody of an enchanting voice drifted to me from the music building. I didn't think anyone was supposed to be in there this late, let alone performing.

"Every sweat just breaks me a little. And I know you can't take this back and forth. It's not really safe for you in the middle."

Enthralled by the raw emotion in it, I followed the music. It belonged to the girl with the short brown hair. She sat in the music building in a classroom on a stool with her guitar in her hands while she sang.

"When you close that door you see. It's unhinged, it's just like me. I ain't scared of my emotions, but I'm afraid to let you see 'Cause I know if I stay open, I won't be what you need."

She looked out at empty space and something about the pain in her voice made me feel like there was someone who understood me.

"When you close that door you see. It's unhinged, it's just like me. If you close that door you see. You're unhinged, you're just like me."

Before she caught me I headed back outside and sat on the stone railing.

Not realizing this was the closest exit, she pushed through the doors. She didn't look surprised to see me, but walked down the steps.

"That was pretty good back there." I said before she could get away.

She turned to look at me. "Thanks."

I held out a hand. "Scott McCall."

She took it, her skin was so soft. Her hand fit perfectly in mine. It didn't seem breakable. The longer we held on the more tingles danced up my arm.

"Malia McCall," She offered, then her eyes widened. "I mean, Malia Tate." She looked shocked that it came out of her mouth. "Sorry."

I waved it off, but curious as to why I didn't freak out at the idea of this girl insinuating we were married.

"But you can me Lia."

We both realized we still held hands and dropped the others.

"Why is that?" I pushed off the railing to land on the space beside her.

"That's what I let my friends call me."

My brow rose. "We're not friends."

"Not yet." She smiled. "See you around." She headed down the sidewalk.

"Hey," Something made me follow her. "I can walk you back to your apartment if you want. Campus is dangerous this time of night."

"Yeah? What are you going to do that I can't?" Her coffee colored eyes inspected me in hilarity as we inched along.

I put on my best smile. "Protect you from the big bad wolves."

She laughed. "If you weren't so cute I would be offended."

I cracked a grin. "Sorry, I didn't mean it to sound chauvinist."

"No, it's okay, Scott."

When she said my name I felt like I knew her once again.

"What?" She grinned as she assessed me.

My head shook. "You just seem familiar, that's all."

Her brow arched. "Does that line usually work?"

I laughed. "It's not a line, I swear." My hands raised. "Are you sure we haven't met before?"

"Maybe in another life or something if you believe in that sort of thing?"

"Maybe."

"So, Scott...what are you doing here?"

That was an open-ended question.

"I mean, why are you out this time of night?"

I sighed. "Couldn't sleep, decided to go for a walk, then I heard you. You have an amazing voice by the way."

She brushed it off. "Why couldn't you sleep?"

"Personal reasons."

She nudged me. "Oh come on, we go back way."

"If you promise not to freak out on me?"

Her hand raised in promise.

"My mom. She died a few months ago and it's been hard," I looked at her, waited for her to pull away and flee, but she didn't. "And I've had trouble sleeping ever since."

She nodded. "Sorry to hear that. What was she like, your mom?"

I smiled at the distant reminder. "She was a beautifully caring person. The best mom that ever lived. She accepted me for who I was when she found out..."

"I knew you were too handsome to be straight." She joked.

I laughed. "I meant that I became this new person in high school and I hid that person from her for a long time, afraid that she wouldn't accept me. But she did. She was one of my best friend's as sad as that is. Now that she's gone a lot of things that used to matter to me don't anymore."

"Like lacrosse?"

My brow rose.

She grinned. "I know who you are, McCall. Lydia already gave me the run down on all the available hotties in this place. You were at the top of her list."

I didn't know how I felt about that. "I didn't think I was Lydia's type."

"Oh, definitely not. She knows that. It's more of a general list for any girl with standards."

"And why am I at the top?"

She eyed me. "Hmm, let's see." She walked backward to fully face me. "You're an athlete, you're not illiterate, you speak up in class," Her eyes ran over me. "And then there's the obvious."

I grinned. "What might that be?"

"You're an Alpha."

The grin was wiped from my face.

How did she know that?

She snorted a laugh. "Oh, you thought I didn't know? Even if we didn't know who you were, we can smell it on you." Her eyes glowed blue.

I pulled her to the side of a building, by a tree. "Who are you?" I demanded. "What do you want?"

"Relax, we don't want anything." She pulled my hand off her shoulder. Her arms folded across her chest. "We're here the same reason you are with your pack. We just want to graduate college."

"Then why are your eyes blue? The last time I checked blue eyes meant you killed an innocent person."

Her eyes rolled. "I'm a werecoyote. Did you think I wouldn't be able to sniff you out? You're an Alpha which means unaligned betas are drawn to you no matter what." She moved closer. "I'm surprised you didn't sniff me out first." Her eyes assessed me. "What kind of True Alpha are you?"

My eyes narrowed at her. "Did you plan for this to happen?"

"How would I know that you'd walk in on my session?"

She was right.

I shrugged. "Then were you going to tell us who you were?"

Her head tilted. "Like I said, I thought you'd sniff us out."

I glanced around.

"This doesn't have to be a big deal, we can all coexist."

My eyes went back to hers. "Here's the deal, we've got a Hunter with us. If any of you step out of line we'll be forced to take action."

Her eyes danced in amusement. "Take action? Do you know how you sound?"

I stepped closer. "I meant what I said. Keep your friends in line."

"If you think you can scare us with your True Alpha honorability you better think again." She closed the last bit of distance between us. "I'm not scared of you, Scott. You can't bully me into being someone I'm not." Her eyes glowed blue as sapphire. "So if I want to kill someone, then I'll kill someone."

My eyes went down to her mouth for a second. "What did I just say?"

"You can try all you want to keep me in check, but I don't take orders from a man." Her finger shoved my chest back.

For some reason that made like her.

We ended the night in a mutual dislike of each other and an agreement to discuss with our friends if we needed to.

I actually got a decent amount of sleep, more than I usually did. When I woke I recalled that my dream featured the werecoyote. We'd been watching a movie in my room, but more than anything, we'd talk.

Being that I knew it was only a dream, a weird dream, I shook the dream from my head and headed to the dining room for a quick bite to eat.

Allison joined me. "Why are people such assholes?"

I shrugged. "They just are." I took a bite of my omelette. "What happened?"

"Some jock cat called me to be funny."

My brow arched. "Was he on the team?"

She shrugged. "I don't think so. He didn't look familiar, but then again I don't pay attention to the guys on your team."

How could I forget? She was lost in Stiles Land.

She helped me eat my omelette even though I didn't need help, then we headed to class.

My books were under my arm. "You know," I hung an arm around her shoulder. "If you want me to talk to Stiles for you, I can."

Her eyes widened. "Not even remotely funny, Scott."

"Okay," I dropped it at the sight of Stiles already in his seat.

We went to sit beside him.

He had his foot propped on his knee, his gaze on the door.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Waiting to see if Lydia looks up at me when she walks in."

Allison leaned forward. "Why would she do that?"

He looked at her. "We sort of ran into each other yesterday."

She sat back in her seat with a confused but adorable look on her face as he looked back at the door.

My eyes went to her, I leaned closer. "What did I tell you?" I teased.

Her hand went to my shoulder to playfully push me away. She gave a laugh that I could listen to on repeat constantly. "Shut up,"

I sat back in my seat, content until I saw Malia plant herself in her seat by Lydia and Kira.

Class went by in a haze. I spoke up a few times, but my focus would always go back to the werecoyote in the front row.

Stiles nudged me. "Are you okay?" He whispered.

I nodded slightly.

As soon as class let out I headed for her, but she was already out the door. Lost in the throng of people I used my sense of smell to find her. She was close, I could tell, but when I looked around I couldn't see her.

"What's wrong with you?" Allison asked.

"He's into that girl, Allie." Stiles messed with her glasses.

She fixed her glasses with red cheeks.

I followed the smell. "No, I just need to ask her something."

"I'll come with," She kept up pace.

Stiles trailed along.

We ended up at the Student Union.

Malia and her friends sat at a table with their books in front of them. Kira nodded in our direction for Malia to look up.

"Can we talk?" I asked her.

Lydia looked up from searching her bag and grinned at Stiles. "Hey,"

He slid in next her. "Hey,"

Malia scooted out of the booth. "Take my seat," She offered Allison.

We walked over to the grocery section.

"About last night," I started. "I think we got off on the wrong foot."

Her head shook. "No, I think you meant what you said. And I meant what I said." She eyed me. "But I don't see why we can't be friends."

My hand shoved into my pockets. "You did say I could call you Lia."

She grinned. "I did say that. You know you've got a baby face, right?"

"Me?"

"Yeah," She peered up from the short aisles of products. "It makes me want to trust you, but as I saw last night you're a little dangerous. I usually like dangerous, but on you, I can't tell what it means."

My eyes narrowed. "Are you flirting with me?"

She nodded in a nonchalant manner. "Maybe, but I know a taken man when I see one."

"I'm not taken,"

She sifted through the snacks. "Does your friend know you're into her?"

"How is that any of your business?"

"Maybe because your pack is a love triangle waiting to happen and if we're going to be friends then you iron out your problems."

My brow rose. "We don't have problems."

She all but laughed. "Really? So if you told Allison how you felt she wouldn't be freaked out because she's in love with Stiles, who is interested in Lydia. . .Who thinks he's gay."

Surprised by the last one, I chuckled. "Seriously?"

She nodded. "I tried to convince her otherwise, but she didn't believe me."

"I'll handle my friends, you handle yours."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

I walked over to her side. "Your friends listen to you. Tell them what we agreed upon."

Her chestnut eyes stared into mine. "I'm not an Alpha."

"I didn't say you were, but you might as well be. You're the only one that came up to me. You're the only one that challenged me. I can bet they listen to you."

She shrugged. "If I've got something to say." She inched closer. "So what should I say? They don't take kindly to domination." Her eyes ran down my body. "But I do, given the right circumstances."

"I knew you were flirting with me." I observed.

Her grin returned. "Was I not obvious enough?" Her hand snaked up my arm and squeezed my bicep. "If you feel your wolf ever start to lose control, come find me." Her arousal surrounded me. "Then we can see who's the dominant one."

I chuckled. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Good." Her eyes went to my mouth before she turned away.

I pulled her back. "Okay, I know this sounds crazy, but I know that I know you from somewhere."

The lightheartedness left her eyes as she looked down.

"Do you feel it too?"

She looked up at me. "I know I've never seen you before in my life. I would remember someone like you, but when you said your name in class it felt important somehow."

I let go of my breath. "I thought I was going crazy."

Her head shook. "No, you're not."

"So what does this mean? The fact that we know each other, but have never met?"

"I don't think we really know each other, Scott. We just think we do for some weird reason."

I picked up a bag of dill pickle kettle chips and tossed them to her. "How do I know that these are your favorite chips?"

She looked at the bag, then up at me with disbelieving eyes. "I don't know." She looked behind us at the others, then back at me. "We can't say anything."

"What would I tell them without sounding insane?"

She stared at me then reached into my pockets until she found my phone. "I'm putting my number in. Call me if you can't sleep. I have trouble with that myself."

My brow arched in question.

She laughed and something about it rang familiar. "To talk. If you want."

That night I grew restless again, so I wandered the campus per usual. I went to the nearest practice field and sat. The stars twinkled in the night sky.

 _Close your eyes_ , the words flitted into my head, but not in my voice. It was hers. Malia's.

So I did and a feeling of longing washed over me, longing for something I didn't quite understand. Loneliness replaced the longing. Even with my friends, I still felt alone. I wasn't sure if I've always felt this void or if it was something new because my mom was gone and I had this seemingly crazy beautiful girl that reminded me of something I used to have. But I've never had anything similar to what my mind tried to tell me we had. I wasn't delusional. Or maybe I was. My point, I barely knew Malia from a completely stranger. I didn't trust her or like her. She seemed fun and impulsive. Wild. But she wasn't who made my heart skip a beat.

Allison was.

In the darkness, I knew I didn't have Allison. Frankly, it felt like I didn't have anybody.

My thumb hovered over the new contact in my phone. After much deliberation, I pressed the call button, then panicked. I should've just texted her, but it was already too late because she answered.

"I'm hoping that this is a baby-faced Alpha and if not then this will be really awkward."

I leaned back against the bleachers with a crooked grin. "If it wasn't then I'd be really intrigued in how you were going to explain that."

"If anyone's calling me this late we'd have a problem."

I hadn't even bothered to check the time when I called her. "Sorry,"

"No, I don't mind. I gave it to you for a reason." She sighed. "So what's up?"

"I'm in the mood for milkshakes. You want one?"

She made a noise of approval. "I'm into that idea. Where should I meet you?"

Twenty minutes later we were at a local diner in a booth.

"What will it be?" The broken down waitress, Doris, asked.

"Milkshakes, two of them." Malia said enthusiastically.

Doris nodded, but grew irritated with the little information. "What flavor?"

"Oreo for me and chocolate for her." I answered.

Doris left with our orders.

Malia stared at me.

"Okay, I shouldn't have ordered for you." I realized.

"No," Her head shook. "It's not that." She played with the salt shaker. "Chocolate was a good guess."

I raised a finger. "But it wasn't a guess."

"Chocolate's everyone's favorite flavor. It wasn't a leap."

"It's not mine," I pointed out.

She looked out the window at the few passing cars. "Eleven."

"Huh?"

"Your jersey number in high school." She looked back at me. "Was it eleven?"

I nodded, stunned.

She stared back at me. "I had a dream about you last night."

My brow arched.

Her hand raised. "Not that kind of dream, McCall." She laughed. "It was confusing, now I can't really make it out. All I remembered was looking at stars and you teaching me how to play the guitar." She looked down at the table. "I have no idea what it means." She hummed a tune that struck a chord in me. "So just close your eyes." She quietly sang.

"That's a song?"

She nodded. "Yeah, it was actually the first one I learned how to play."

I leaned forward. "Can you play it?"

Her hand reached for her phone. "Sure." She leaned in. "Do you know it?"

A few moments later she played it. The sense of being somewhere with this song with her before hit me.

Our eyes locked.

I nodded.

"That's kind of creepy." She sat back.

Doris sat down our milkshakes.

I took a small sip.

She did the same.

"So this is your first year here. Where did you transfer from?"

"Longwood." From the lost look on my face she further explained. "It's a University in Farmville, Virginia. It was really small and I hated it. So I came here instead. I hated being that far from Lydia and Kira anyway."

"They're your best friends? Your pack?"

She nodded. "They're like my sisters. Our Alpha did an okay job before he went crazy and tried to kill us. We fought back together and put him down." Her eyes remained on mine. "Sometimes you don't have a choice. We've been on our own ever since, but together."

"He tried to kill all of you?" I lowered my voice.

She nodded. "He died before we could figure out what made him lose his mind like that. Deucalion was like an uncle." She shrugged. "I think Lydia and Kira might've been drawn here because of you."

"What about you?" I asked before I could stop myself.

"That probably had something to do with it subconsciously," She reached for my milkshake and sipped away.

I watched her in amusement.

She slid it back to me. "Sorry."

My head shook. "No, it's okay." I grabbed hers and drank some.

A dimpled half grin found her face. "What's your major, McCall?"

I pursed my lips and paused.

"You're undecided?"

"Yeah, kind of."

"But you're a Junior. You're practically wasting time if you don't know what you want to do."

I nodded. "I thought that I wanted to be a Veterinarian, then all of a sudden I didn't." I tapped the cold glass.

"Because your mom died?"

My eyes found hers. I nodded. "She was a Nurse and I thought that it could be something we shared. But I realized that it wasn't what I wanted to do. I should've taken off a semester to figure things out, but if I stayed home I would've gone out of my mind."

She leaned forward on an elbow.

"Enough about me. What about you?"

Her eyes lit up. "Woman's Studies."

A laugh bubbled out of me.

"What?" She asked, a hint of a smile on her face.

"That just makes a lot of sense."

Her forehead creased together. "What doest that mean?"

"You're very blunt and forward. You carry yourself like you know of the power that you have and you own it. And you don't like to be told what to do, especially by a man."

She pointed at me, clearly impressed. "I knew you were perceptive." Her black combat boot planted in between my legs. "But how perceptive?" Her eyes ran over me.

I usually wasn't one of those guys that believed screwing one girl would get another out of your mind, but I had no chance with Allison and Malia was right in front of me. We got along okay. I felt something when I was with her, even though I wasn't sure what. The moment I saw her I was taken by how beautiful she was with her almond milk complexion and penetrating eyes. So far she'd been able to make me laugh quite a bit, which is more than I could say for anyone else.

I gave a small grin. "Do you want to get out of here?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

Her off-campus apartment was closer than mine. Her friends were out at parties so when we got inside she shoved me back into the door and tore my clothes off while I gave a low chuckle. Her mouth kissed up and down my chest and neck.

"You're really good at that."

She gave a throaty laugh, then led me by the hand to her couch.

I removed her shirt, my hand cupped her face as I brought my face closer to hers, but I didn't kiss her. I didn't want to get that involved with her or anybody. Somehow kissing meant more than sex with the right person and we knew enough about each other to know we didn't want to go there.

Our eyes locked.

I tugged her shorts to me and undid them.

She stepped out of them to reveal she didn't have on any underwear, then laid back on her couch expectantly with her legs open. "Well, get to it." She rubbed herself. Damn if she didn't look good doing it.

I smirked at her then knelt down to grab her hips. My mouth trailed kisses along her inner thigh, then sucked on her pussy lips, which elicited a sexy moan from her. Once satisfied with her level of arousal, I moved to lick her. "Mhmm." She tasted good.

Her hands went to my hair and pulled me up to her clit.

A chuckle escaped me at the action, but I flicked her sensitive button of nerves.

"McCall, where have you been all my life?" She moaned and wiggled on the couch.

My hands held her hips still, then I sucked my way down until my tongue slid inside. My eyes met her blue coyote eyes.

Immense satisfaction wafted in me at the look on her face, a look that said she couldn't wait to dominate me. Well, we'd see about that.

My mouth traveled back up to her clit while I slid a finger inside her and worked it in and out.

"Fuck,"

I added another finger, then sped my motions and watched as she bucked her hips. The more she moved the faster my fingers fucked her and the faster my tongue flicked and lapped at her clit.

"Uhh, Scott!" Her hands pulled on my hair as she orgasmed. As she calmed down she gave a weak laugh.

I pulled my fingers out and sucked on them. She seemed to like that so I stood and lowered my boxers to have my hard cock spring out.

She bit her lip.

I cupped her face and brought it to my cock.

She followed willingly and licked her way up and down until she sucked on the head.

My eyes closed at the pleasure.

Her hand jerked me off while she sucked on my balls. She delicately kissed her way back up my cock.

When I opened my eyes I knew that they were red. My hand slid into her hair to guide her mouth onto me.

She instantly moaned as did I. Her tongue swirled around me, and then she deepthroated me.

My hips raised off the couch. "Fuck, Lia."

Her eyes met mine and for a moment it looked like she'd be willing to submit to me.

I worked my hips forward, my hand tightened in her hair.

A flash of us in this position before filled my brain, only I was standing and we were in an apartment. Her hair was longer and blonder. Salt-N-Pepa played in the background.

She hummed around me, which brought me back to the present.

My eyes stared into hers as my lower abs tightened and I felt the oncoming of an orgasm. "Goddamn, Malia." I came down her throat.

Her eyes never left mine as she took it like she was the thirstiest woman on the planet, grabbing onto my hips in need. Once everything was gone she sucked her way off me with a lick of her lips.

That was so hot. Girls usually didn't want you to cum down their throat or in them unless you had on a condom, but I had a feeling that Malia would want it raw. No, she'd demand it.

While I caught my breath she pushed everything off the coffee table, then grabbed me and shoved me down on it.

I grinned to myself.

Her hips lined up with mine and she sunk down on me as our eyes locked. She bit her lip as she started to ride me. Her hands rested on my stomach to steady herself. "Scott," She moaned.

"You feel so good," I groaned, my hands dug into her hips.

"And you feel just like how I imagined."

My brow arched. "How's that?"

She smirked down at me. "Big." She leaned down to lick my nipple.

I've never had a girl do that so I was surprised that I liked it and she seemed to know it. My hands slid up her back and grabbed her shoulders so I could pump into her the way I wanted.

"Ahh!" She bite into my neck. Her breasts rubbed against my chest. "Scott," Her mouth breathed into my ear.

I sped up my hips. "Lia?"

She seemed to know what I was about to ask and said, "Cum in me, Scott."

I was a stroke or two away from doing just that when a string of bullets flew through the apartment.

We stilled for a moment, then she pressed me flat against the table.

I flipped us over that I was on top of her, but the movement made us both moan, and even with the spray of bullets around us we both came, which somehow made it better.

As soon as we came down she flipped us onto the floor, but by then the bullets had stopped and the screech of tires against asphalt sounded in the distance.

We looked at each other.

I was about to ask if she was okay, but something stopped me.

She knew my train of thought somehow and nodded. She started to get up.

My hands grabbed her and pulled her close. "Wait, what if there's more?"

"If there are more guys out there I'm going to kill them." She pushed off of me and stood to get dressed.

I followed and did the same. Suspicion ebbed into me until I finally asked, "What did you do?"

She looked at me. "I didn't _do_ anything."

My head tilted to hers. "Are drive-by's a normal occurrence for you?"

Her eyes rolled. "No. I just need to call Peter. I'll figure out the rest in the morning."

"What'd you say?"

She searched for her phone. "I need to call my birth dad, Peter. He might know something about this."

I slapped the phone out of her hand.

She looked up at me with hard eyes.

"Is your father Peter Hale?"

"You know him?"

My anger that I worked so hard to diminish flared. "Your _father_ was the one that bite me."

"He never mentioned you."

"He's the reason that I got involved in all of this. He's the reason my mom got killed!"

She shook her head. "Peter's a lot of things, but he wouldn't kill an innocent person."

"What do you call him giving me the bite against my will?" I headed for the door.

"Wait," She grabbed me. "You can't leave."

I shook her hand off. "If you think I'm staying here guess again."

"Okay, whatever issues you have with Peter isn't my fault. I didn't do anything so don't blame me. I'm not him."

I gave a dry laugh. "You're his daughter so you're everything like him." My eyes burned into hers. "You _stay away_ from me and my friends. Whatever help you need, call your father." I ripped open the door and slammed it shut behind me.

My heart pounded in my chest while I took the stairs as quickly as possible. I didn't know how things would've turned out with Malia, but I knew that I felt something for her. Something that I could now never explore, not if Peter Hale was her father. Not if she was connected to the one person I hated more than my dad. More than me. I felt bad for refusing to help her, but I couldn't be near her and be reminded of what I lost because of him. If she knew what was good for her, she'd stay away from me until forever runs out.

A/N: I hope yall like this. Sorry it took me so long to put it up. I was working on my new Stydia smut fic, It Was Always You, so I probably will be alternating between each chapter for both fics if that makes sense. If you like this or didn't like it PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHATEVER YOU FEEL OR THINK ABOUT THIS. If you're not coming from Whenever You're Ready and you like this and it made sense please let me know and inbox me if you have any questions. :) Happy Friday yall!


	2. Made of Stone

The song for this chapter is Matt Corby - Made of Stone (Live at Studios 301 version)

ALLISON'S POV:

It was Friday evening and Stiles and I were sitting in the Student Union while we studied.

He kept looking around, for Lydia no doubt, every few minutes.

My foot kicked into his.

"Ow."

"Sorry," I flipped a page and pushed my glasses back.

He sighed. "Should I have gotten her number?"

I glanced up at him. "If you want it, Stiles, go get it."

"She would never go for me. Do you think she'd go for me?"

"Oh my God," I looked at him. "Would you shut up about Lydia already? Either you make a move or you don't. I'm trying to study." My hair was annoying me for some reason today so I ran my fingers through it and put it back in what I knew was a terrible excuse for a bun. I took my glasses off and rubbed my temples. When I looked up Stiles was staring at me. "What?"

He looked at me and shook his head. "Nothing." He cast his gaze away.

My eyes took in his tiny moles that usually made me smile when I was sad. My eyes slid back to my books and I sighed. "I'm getting a snack. Do you want anything?" I scooted out of the booth.

"Yeah, sour gummy worms."

I held my hand out. "Well, give me the money. I'm not buying them."

He turned his honey-eyed gaze to mine and they softened into his puppy-eyed stare. "I'll pay you back."

My eyes rolled as I scoffed. I headed for the grocery section of the Union. I went to the pizza line and waited to order curly fries. I blankly stared at the menu when someone walked right beside me with no regard for personal space. I looked over to find the same jackass jock that thought it was funny to cat call me for his jerk ass friends. I moved away.

His blue eyes ran over me, then found mine. "Sorry about the other day."

My arms folded across my chest as I stared forward.

"Your name's Allison, right?"

I nodded.

"I'm Isaac." He held out a masculine looking hand.

I looked at it, then cleared my throat.

"Okay," He sighed. "Look, I wanted to apologize. I was slightly tipsy and my friends are assholes. I saw you with your books and you looked really cute so I said something stupid."

I met his eyes.

He gave a crooked grin.

Just so this could be over, I grabbed his hand and shook it. "Thank you."

The person in front of me moved and the worker stared at me expectantly.

I moved forward. "Hi, I'd like an order of curly fries please. That's it. Thank you." I gave her a soft smile.

"Next," She called.

I reached for the ten in my pocket.

Isaac handed the cashier a fifty. "Thank you." He grinned kindly at her then turned his grin to me.

I turned on my heels away from him with my food.

"Aren't you going to say thank you?"

"Nope."

He grabbed my arm gently and pulled me back. "Woah, I'm trying to do the right thing here. Give me a little break?"

I took my arm back. "Fine. You're forgiven. Now leave me alone." I gave him a final look then made my way back to the booth.

Stiles looked at me curiously. "You know that guy?"

I handed over his candy. "Not really, no."

"That's Isaac Lahey, plays center field on the football team. He looked like he wanted to talk to you." He opened the bag. "What? You're not interested?"

My head shook. "Not even a little bit."

He made a undecipherable noise from his side of the booth.

I met his gaze. "What does that mean?"

"You never let anyone get to know you and I see how lonely you are." He swallowed the lump in his throat. "A girl like you doesn't have to be alone ever if she doesn't want to."

My forehead creased. "A girl like me?"

"You know, beautiful, intimidatingly smart, and seemingly perfect." He stole one of my fries.

I was about to shake my head in disagreement, then I realized I was all of those things. Almost.

"I'm not perfect."

"Sometimes it feels like it." His gaze slid to the wall.

I didn't know how to process all of this new information. He's never told me I was beautiful, not that I needed him to, but I never knew he thought that. Or that I was intimidatingly smart or perfect. I didn't know that he thought about me at all really. Stiles had always been a ladies man, which was fine if I hadn't fallen hard for him as soon as he stepped foot into my class that day. Now it was five years later and I still held that torch like an idiot. Maybe I should put myself out there like Scott suggested. Maybe not with Stiles, but I could find someone else. I think.

Stiles reached for another fry.

I smacked his hand away.

He frowned. "Don't be stingy."

"I'm not. Every time you have curly fries and I try to take some you get all pissy. Well, if you wanted fries you should've told me, Stilinski."

He grinned. "I do not get pissy."

"You do," I nodded. "I've felt your verbal slap from your hissy fits."

He laughed. "You know how I am about my curly fries."

I put my glasses back on. "Yeah, I know."

He watched me, then went back to his book with adorably pursed lips.

An hour or so later Scott came to join us.

His eyes were bleak, dark circles lined his eyes, and he lacked energy as he sank next to me.

My hand tilted his chin down as I inspected him further. "What happened to you?"

His hand wrapped around mine placed ours in between us and rested his own in his lap. "I'm okay. Just didn't get much sleep." He looked between stiles and I. "Do me a favor. Stay away from Malia and them. They're not who you think they are."

Stiles shrugged. "What does that mean?"

"It means that their dangerous and I don't want either of you talking to them."

I didn't follow Scott blindly, but I knew if this was the reason he lost sleep then it was serious and Stiles and I should take his word seriously. So I nodded.

Stiles didn't. He stared at Scott with raised brows. "What about Lydia? You want me to just give up on her?"

He sighed. "She thinks you're gay, Stiles. You don't have a chance with her." He said harshly.

I looked to Stiles to see his reaction.

He just stared at Scott with desolate honey eyes.

Scott rose, then turned his gaze to me. "Just listen to me. Please?"

I nodded again.

He went back the same way he came.

My gaze fixed on Stiles. "Are you okay?"

"Not really." He looked down at our books then at me. "Do you want to do something?"

I offered a smile. "We can go see that new Gabrielle Union movie. You love her." I pitched.

He looked interested. "She is really hot."

My eyes rolled as we gathered our things and headed for the door. I wrapped my arm around his waist. "I'll spring for the big popcorn."

His arm went around my waist, he gave a shadow of a grin at me.

My insides fluttered under proximity and duress.

SCOTT'S POV:

I restlessly tossed and turned on my bed with a groan. I couldn't get the suspiciously beautiful werecoyote out of my head no matter how much I loathed her father. Rationally, I knew everything that happened wasn't her fault, but anger was often irrational. And irrationally, I blamed anyone of that bloodline for my mother's death. It was easier than blaming myself and I did everything I could.

Any decent human being would feel bad about not doing anything they could to help out someone in Malia's situation, while I did, I didn't trust myself to go near her. I didn't think I would hurt her because I still felt connected to her somehow, but if it came down to it I didn't know if I were willing to save her life. That scared me. I wasn't that person, not by a long shot, but since my mom's death, I've been a new person. And I wasn't sure that I liked it.

A pounding came from the front door.

It wasn't like I could sleep anyway.

I rolled out of bed and answered the door.

Allison and Stiles strode in with less than friendly faces.

"What?"

Allison turned on the TV and went to the local news channel. "You lied to us."

The dark-haired news reporter, Victoria Wrescilo, reported about what seemed to be gang activity at its worst. The camera panned to Malia's apartment. She wasn't on the scene, but the Dean commented on how the situation was being handled and that we shouldn't be worried.

Allison turned it off. "Care to explain?"

I looked between them and sighed. "Fine. I was with her last night. We hung out and then the shooting just happened."

"And you just left her there without offering to help?" Stiles questioned.

"Do you really think someone that's not shaken by a drive-by is someone that needs our help? Or deserves it for that matter?"

Allison stepped forward with her hands on her hips. "That's not for you to decide. We make these decisions as a pack. We have to help them."

Stiles moved closer to her. "We have to talk to them, at least."

My head shook. "I don't want you two getting involved. If you get hurt because of them..." My voice rose. I cleared my throat. "If you get hurt," I looked to Allison. "I don't know what I'd do."

She stared back at me with understanding eyes.

Stiles looked between us and nodded.

She stepped toward me. "We can take care of ourselves." She grabbed one of my hands. "Trust us to do this, Scott."

I looked down at her hands over mine and my heart skipped a beat. My eyes met hers. "It's not you that I don't trust. It's them." I pulled my hand away and turned my back on them.

"What did she do anyway?" Allison asked. "What was so bad that you'd turn your back on her?"

My jaw clenched, but I didn't say anything. I couldn't. Too much hate coursed through me and I felt like I was going to explode any moment.

The door opened, they shuffled out and closed the door behind them.

MALIA'S POV:

I mindlessly strummed my guitar from my treehouse. Well, a family's that I housesat for this summer. Their kid had outgrown it and I didn't like their house, so I stayed up here. It was isolating, but it gave me more time to focus on my music. Before that summer I hadn't picked up my guitar in ages. Thankfully, with much practice, I was back in the game.

I remembered in my mind seeing this blurry face that was with me when I played that only appeared when I was most content. For a while, I thought I was so alone that I imagined a friend, but then on the first day of class when I saw Scott the face in my mind became clear and it was his.

When he told me he thought he was going crazy I assured him he wasn't. Or maybe we both were.

He seemed like a decent guy. Intense in his brown-eyed gaze that made me feel like he could see into me. I've never felt that about anyone before. And it helped that he was extremely attractive.

So when he called I was a little surprised he took me up on my offer because I thought he didn't like me all that much, but then we ended up having mind-blowing sex that took me to a high that I've never had in all my sexual encounters. And there had been a lot. Then he fled with the knowledge that I was Peter's daughter.

Now I sat here in solitude, trying to think of ways to kill the person or people responsible for the shooting so no one else would get hurt. Then I'd do my best to stay away from Scott and his pack. Even if I felt a pull to him that couldn't be explained. I'd just have to fight it.

My phone rang, which jarred me from my thoughts. I quickly answered it.

"So we sort of have a situation," Kira said cautiously. "Meet us at Java City in ten." She hung up.

That was ominous.

I sat down my guitar, then climbed down the makeshift ladder, and headed towards Java City. I was glad they had one because I was so used to the drinks from practically living there at Longwood.

When I arrived I found the girls with Allison and Stiles to my surprise. They sat at a table in the corner.

I sat down with intense curiosity. "What's going on?"

"We know about what happened." Stiles started. "We want to help."

I looked to Lydia and Kira, then sighed. "It's not that simple."

Allison leaned forward. "What do you mean?"

"Scott made it very clear that he didn't want us to associate with any of you. I don't blame him."

"What?" Lydia asked.

My hand went to hers. "Whatever mess is coming my way I don't want them involved. I don't want you involved." I looked to Kira and placed my other hand over hers.

Her head shook. "You're delusional if you think we're going to let you handle this alone."

"We're not leaving you." Lydia reassured.

I didn't think they would, which is why I held up in the treehouse away from them.

"We're going to help, too." Stiles announced.

I met his serious gaze. "I can't ask you to do that."

"You don't have to." He looked at Allison.

She nodded at him.

I didn't see it before but the way he stared at her was akin the way she stared at him. Believe it or not, I felt bad for Scott in that moment.

Lydia narrowed her eyes in speculation at him.

Kira covered her laugh with her hand.

Lydia shot her a look.

"Fine. Let's go back to the scene of the crime. We can pick up some details the police couldn't." I decided.

We all rose and headed for the door.

"Stiles?" A pretty blonde girl called once we walked past the library.

He turned to her. "Heather?"

She rushed up to him with a big hug.

He squeezed her back. "Do you go here now?"

She nodded. "Yeah. You?"

He nodded. "Yeah," He looked back at us and realized he held us up. He reached for his phone. "Give me your number. We'll catch up tomorrow." He handed it over. "We've got something to take care of."

She excitedly put her number in. "I can't believe this is happening." She smiled.

He hugged her one last time then they parted ways.

"Who was that?" Allison asked, an uncontrolled amount of jealousy seeped from her tone. She looked at him expectantly.

He sighed with a faraway look on his face. "My first best friend. My first girlfriend. My first love."

She faced forward, her eyes went to Lydia's, then looked away.

This was what I meant by ironing out their problems. Already I could tell there was no great way this was going to come to a conclusion.

We searched the scene as inconspicuously as possible.

I knelt down to touch the tire marks on the road, then brought my fingers to my nose. Something about it was familiar, but I couldn't put a name to it.

Allison walked up to me with a few bullets. "Do you recognize the markings on these?"

Stiles grabbed them from my hands. "I do." He looked at her. "You need to go back to your dorm."

"What does it mean?"

He grabbed her arm and pulled her along. "It means that you don't want to be near whoever it is that we find. Now go," He practically shoved her away.

She pushed him back. "What is your problem? I can take care of myself. I don't need you to protect me, Stiles."

He stood face to face with her. "Scott would kill me if something happened to you."

I looked away, but still listened in.

"Scott turned his back on them when they needed our help. I don't really care what Scott wants."

"Then care what I want," His voice filled with strained desperation. "Allie, I want you to be safe so go back. Please?"

She laughed sardonically. "I'm going. You can't stop me." She walked past us. "Are we going to check out the lead or what?"

I struggled to keep the tiny grin off my face. I liked her. I could see why Scott was in love with her.

Stiles marched after her, failure and worry wafted around him.

Lydia and I exchanged a comical look, but I could see the slight fascination in her eyes for the honey-eyed boy who showed just how straight he was by her standards.

My eyes rolled at her and I grabbed Kira's hand as we moved forward.

Stiles lead us to a dusty run down garage a mile or so away from campus. While it wasn't far it was off the beaten path. The Sun had set a few minutes back leaving the sky a denim blue in its wake. Dark clouds looked down on us angrily.

Kira's hand crackled in electricity.

Lydia cleared and uncleared her throat.

Allison cracked her knuckles.

Stiles pulled out two daggers with a hole at the top, he slid his middle fingers into them.

My claws extended.

Stiles looked back at Allison.

She nodded once.

He nodded back, then turned around.

Rock music blared from inside and practically vibrated the walls along with the chained back door.

Lydia, Kira, and I exchanged looks, then I pushed through them, yanked the chains off, and shoved the door open with a growl.

We stormed inside, ready for a fight, but found only a guy no older than us inside.

He stood with his hands before him and a blank look on his face. "You've found us." He spoke with arrogance and a surity that this was a part of his plan.

I charged him with bared fangs ready to tear into flesh.

His eyes glowed yellow. He dodged my hits to deliver a blow so powerful to my stomach that I flew back and thumped to the ground with the wind knocked out of me.

Stiles flew forward, his daggers sliced and cut through the air with a speed no human should've had. So he was the hunter of the pack. He was graceful and precise, but still not good enough to take on someone with as much power that that guy displayed. He ended up on the ground like me, only his cheek had the beginnings of bruising.

Allison went to help him up.

He waved her worry off.

Lydia's Banshee scream was enough to throw him through the front entrance.

Stiles stared at her in awe.

The guy stood to his feet with a dark chuckle. He lined the doorway with a black ash.

An older, fatter guy appeared to pull him along. "Come on, Theo." He urged.

The guy that must've been Theo stared at me with a manic look in his eyes before he took off.

Lydia helped me to my feet, then headed for the way we came, but flew back.

I caught her and we fell to the cement.

"Mountain Ash," Allison spoke. "They lined the whole place with Mountain Ash."

A ticking began.

"Uh, guys," Kira backed away from a corner. "That's a bomb." She looked back at us. "It's set to blow it less than one minute."

"This was a trap," Stiles muttered.

I banged on the barrier in frustration.

"Malia, you're wasting your time," Kira grabbed my arm. "It won't work."

Allison sighed. "We should've listened to Scott. None of us should've come here."

Lydia looked at them. "You both are human." She pointed to the entryway. "Which means you can leave."

Stiles shook his head. "We're not leaving you guys here to die."

"If you don't then we'll all die. Someone has to find those men and stop them before they hurt anybody else."

"She's right." Kira agreed. "You have to go."

They shook their heads.

"If you die in here Scott will have nobody left." I was surprised by how my voice broke and how much I cared about a guy that didn't want anything to do with me.

Still, they stood there planted firm.

There were thirty seconds left on the clock.

My eyes burned blue. "Go!" I growled at them.

Their hands joined.

Kira's hand crackled lightning. "Don't make us hurt you." She pleaded.

Lydia's scream pierced the air, bringing all of our hands over our ears.

Someone groaned from nearby.

I looked up to see Scott, he struggled against the barrier. The clock on the bomb read fifteen seconds.

His red eyes flared in bravery, in leadership, in a nature that explained why he was an Alpha.

My eyes couldn't help but beg his to go, but as he stared into mine he refused to accept that and pushed on with a strength that made him a

true Alpha. I looked to Lydia and Kira in acceptance.

We held each other's hand.

Ten seconds to go.

Scott met my eyes and something in them pushed him through the barrier. His eyes widened. "Let's go!"

I grabbed Stiles and Allison and shoved them out first, then my sisters. "Go!"

Three seconds left.

Scott's hand wrapped around mine, he pulled me forward as the bomb ticked down to zero.

We ran as far as we could as the explosion spread, it sent us flying forward. We landed haphazardly on the ground.

The heat from the flames nearly seared my skin. A piercing ringing in my ears made it hard to distinguish what was near and far.

"Scott!" A voice called.

I rolled over onto my back to catch my break, but the smoke filled the air. My eyes went to Scott.

He laid a few feet away from me knocked out.

I crawled to him, my hand covered my coughs. "Wake up" I shook him. I looked back at the flames, then at him in haste. "Wake your ass up, McCall." I slapped his face.

His eyes scrunched, then they opened to look at me.

A sense of deja vu washed over me. By the look on his face, I could tell it washed over him, too.

"Guys!" Kira called. "We've got to go now!"

We stood, but didn't worry about dusting ourselves off, then ran before another explosion could happen.

We ran until we couldn't run without looking guilty. Not a word was spoken until we were somewhere safe. Well, as safe as any place could be when someone was hell bent on killing us.

Scott led us to the greenhouse.

I've never been in there. It was warmer for the tropical plants. Being in there after hours felt dangerous oddly even in the life I lived. I enjoyed that danger, it was why I practiced in the music building when it was supposed to be closed.

We all closed in on ourselves.

"What happened?" Scott demanded, his voice rang with authority that would call to us even though we didn't follow him.

Allison held her head up. "We just wanted to help."

"You almost got yourself killed, Allie!" He yelled at her.

Stiles stepped forward. "Hey, don't yell at her, man."

Scott stepped forward and pushed him back. "You're right. I should be yelling at you! How could you let her go out there, Stiles?!"

Stiles shoved him back. "She's not your girlfriend, you can't control her!"

Scott's eyes blared red.

"Guys, that's enough." Allison put herself in between them. Well, put herself in front of Stiles was more like it. Her eyes begged Scott's to calm down.

His growl faded until his eyes were back to their usual brown. He moved away from them.

"If you want to blame anyone, blame me." I went to him. "I shouldn't have let them come with."

He pointed an accusatory finger at me. "They next time you want to involve my pack in your business behind my back you'll have me to deal with."

Allison scoffed, then pushed past us for the exit.

Stiles followed her with a glare in Scott's direction.

Scott rolled his eyes, then ran his hand down his tired face. He looked so broken down and exhausted that I wasn't sure how he was upright right now.

"We'll let you two talk." Lydia spoke.

Her and Kira left.

Scott turned his gaze on me. "If I had lost them tonight I don't know what I would've done."

I stepped toward him. "Look, I'm sorry. Your friends are stubborn like the rest of us. They already made up their minds that they were going to help. We tried to get them to leave, but they wouldn't." My eyes burned into his. "I know what it would've done to you to lose them, Scott." I moved an inch closer. "I tried."

He stared at me, then moved toward me. "You know, I look at you and I see your father. I see the man the ruined my life with a single bite." His eyes scanned my face. "And whatever happened between us needs to stay between us."

The space between us grew smaller.

"Secrets get messy." My breath shortened from his proximity.

He nodded. "Things could get a whole lot messier if you don't cooperate."

"What are you going to do? Spank me?" I teased. My hand snaked up his chest.

He grabbed it and shoved it off. "We're connected. How?"

"I'm just as in the dark as you are." I admitted.

His hand went to my hair and I could've melted on the spot. He pulled out a leaf.

Our eyes locked.

He leaned down and whispered in my ear, "If I have to tell you to stay away from my pack again you'll see just how dangerous I can be." He pulled back a bit to look at me face to face. "Is that clear?"

I wasn't ashamed to admit my libido spiked in his presence or under his rage. It was hot, but I wasn't one to let a man make me feel inferior.

My eyes stared into his. "Crystal." I trailed a finger across his broad chest and enjoyed it as he stilled, then headed for the door. "You look like crap. Think about a nap, yeah?" I looked back over my shoulder.

He stared after me with a look of unwanted desire.

A smirk found my lips. I made my way down the hall and flights of stairs. I was in much need of a shower and change of clothes, but all I wanted to do was curl up on my mat in the treehouse and rest.

SCOTT'S POV:

When I realized Stiles and Allison had gone against my orders to stay away from those girls I knew that they had to be in some sort of danger. If they were near Malia surely danger would soon follow.

It took all my strength to open the Mountain Ash barrier, strength that I didn't really have due to my lack of sleep. The was no way I was going to give up on my friends, then I saw the look of concern in Malia's blue eyes after I had given her reason not to be and something in me broke through the barrier. The explosion threw us back and I was out like a light and welcomed the consciouslessness. It was only because of Malia's voice that I woke up.

I successfully had been a dick to my friends, but it was for their own good. They didn't need to be in any of this. They never should've been in the first place. I didn't want to be this way to them or anybody else, but I wasn't going to lose any more people that I cared about.

And for whatever reason my brain tried to make Malia one of those people. I refused to care about her. Yet I followed her scent back to a lonely and dark treehouse off-campus. Her light snoring told me she was asleep.

Was that the best she could do? Did the owners of the home even know she was sleeping there?

Guilt weighed down my shoulders, but I couldn't get involved. I told myself that if she were in my shoes she'd do the same. Then I shook my head with the knowledge that she wouldn't. Still, my resentment sent me on my way back to my apartment where I showered and passed out once I gotten into bed.

A/N: What do you guys think of the story so far? Are you into Scott and Malia's dynamic and Stiles and Allison's? PLEASE DROP A COMMENT/REVIEW BELOW :) It's snowing here in Virginia and I'm hoping my Spring Break will be extended due to th weather! Wish me luck lol.


	3. Update

Hey sorry guys. I've been really busy with school work and such. I don't know when I'll be able to post for my new fics because if I give you a date and I don't post by then people will be disappointed. All I can say is when school lets up I'll post more. I know for a fact this summer I'll have more time, but I'll have posted before then I'm hoping! Just don't expect anything from me within the next two weeks because I have term papers to start writing, researching, and reading for that I haven't done. If I do post something it will be a short chapter (I hate doing those).

And the fact still remains, not getting reviews doesn't motivate any writer no matter who they are to keep writing. Asking when the next chapter will be out or telling me to keep writing isn't a review. I appreciate those who do take the time to leave me their thoughts. In the meantime, I encourage you to go over to Ethereal Mind's Scalia fic: If You Don't Want To Love Me and give her your feedback and critiques because she's trying to improve her skills. If you don't want to that's fine, but don't expect chapters to be fast from authors you're not giving feedback to because in our mind we see that hundreds of people read them and only a few people will write a review. We don't know what the other hundreds of people are thinking so we assume they don't care if the story goes on or that they don't like what's happening. So do us a favor and lets us know what your thoughts on our stories (any fanfic writer) because without it we feel like we're wasting our time and that's the quickest way to keep a writer to not finish their fanfiction. And you can believe that.

Also remember if you're writing a comment as a guest I can't respond to your questions or response. You'd have to make an account or inbox me on here or on social media.


	4. Waves

The song for this chapter is Dean Lewis - Waves (Acoustic version) If you watch Riverdale it's the song that played when Jughead talked to his dad outside the theater when he left.

MALIA'S POV:

I woke up in the treehouse with my back stiff and I remembered why I liked beds. Still, this was safer than the alternative. I made my way down to the house and showered in peace. The family that lived here was only ever here a few months out of the year, they were that kind of family, so that explains why the treehouse was so nice.

Once dressed I headed over to see Kira and Lydia.

My phone rang from my back pocket. "Peter," I sighed in relief. "Did you hear anything?"

"Unfortunately, no. That doesn't mean that I won't. I'm taking a trip down to a friend's. He'll have a location for you."

My brow arched. "What friend? You don't have any friends."

"An acquaintance is more like."

"You don't have any of those either."

He huffed. "Don't worry about that. By sundown you'll have what you need." He hung up.

I wasn't in denial how brutal and manipulative Peter was, but he was never that way with me. He didn't have a reason to be. Whoever Peter was, the world made him like that. Even then, if he had any role to play in Scott's Mom's death then we needed to have a talk. So far, I couldn't bring myself to ask him because if he did then I could justify why Scott was so angry with us. I would get it.

The girls were sleeping when I arrived at their hotel. I opened their curtains because if I was awake I wanted them to be awake.

They groaned from the sunlight.

"Pull it back." Kira pleaded.

"Come on, it's like nine thirty." I stood between their beds.

Lydia threw a pillow at me. "It's Sunday. Let us sleep."

I caught the pillow and went to her bed to slid in beside her. "We've got a busy day ahead of us."

Kira zapped me with a little of her electricity. "Leave us alone."

Lydia gave a tired chuckle. "Agreed."

With a sigh, I rose. "Fine, you two sleep the whole day away. I'll be out trying to figure out solutions.

"You do that. We're taking the morning and evening off." Kira announced.

"Well, maybe you shouldn't party the night we were almost blown up. Now honestly seems like a time that one wouldn't do that." I headed for the door.

They covered their heads with either a pillow or the covers.

I left them with a roll of my eyes and headed for the mail room. There was usually nothing important there, but in case I won a million dollar check I'd like to make sure.

I spoke to the desk clerk on my way to my mailbox. When my suspicions of nothing excited being in there, I headed over to the Union for a bite to eat. Naturally, I settled on my dill pill kettle chips, but when I tried to eat them I couldn't without thinking about the connection that Scott and I shared and then my appetite was gone.

Allison sat at her usual booth so I went over to ask how she was doing. Granted, Scott demanded I stayed away from them, I could still be a decent human being and ask how she was holding up if it was my fault she was in that mess in the whole place.

She looked up at me and gave a tiny grin. "Hey,"

I sat down. "Hey,"

She closed her notebook, but not before I saw her trying to hatch a plan to take down this big bad.

"How are you doing?" I asked.

"Good. You?"

I nodded. "Good."

She stared at me. "Why does Scott hate you?"

"He doesn't hate me," I put on a grin that didn't fool anybody. It faded. "He hates me." I nodded. "He didn't tell you what happened?"

Her head shook. "He wouldn't talk about it. I've only ever seen him upset like this when it came to his mom or this guy that turned him. I don't know what's wrong with him. He's usually not like this. Something's eating at him, something more than usual."

I sighed. "Yeah, I don't really blame him." I bit into my lip, then met her gaze. "Go easy on him. He's doing what he thinks is best for you all."

She shrugged. "So being a dick is acceptable?"

"No, but...he found out something about me that was really hard to accept. He feels like if he shuts me out then it won't hurt him anymore. I can understand that."

"Why are you defending him?" She leaned forward.

My eyes went to the table. "Because my dad's Peter Hale."

She sat back.

I looked at her. "Do you get it now?"

She nodded.

"Tell Stiles," I slid out of the booth. "Take care of yourself," I gave a soft grin.

She did the same.

I headed for the door.

"Malia?" She called.

I turned back to her. "Yeah?"

"When Scott was with you the other night you guys did something, didn't you?" She cleared her throat. "I mean, I don't think he's just angry because of who your father is. I think he's angry because he liked you."

My brow shot into my hairline. "Like me?" My head shook. "We hooked up. That was all."

"But you care about him?"

"I don't even know him, Allison."

She gave a tiny hopeful look. "You said if he lost us he wouldn't have anybody else. I think you know him enough to care."

I took that in and gave a sad grin. "If I did it wouldn't matter." I waved.

The hope in her eyes fell and she waved back. I could tell that she wanted Scott to be happy, but she had no idea that him being with her would make him the happiest he'd ever be. Despite everything I knew so far and what I didn't, I knew that that fact made my heart hurt.

I threw on my sunglasses as the weight of what today was crashed down one me.

SCOTT'S POV:

I lingered in the sitting area of the music building. I wasn't a Music major and it felt like everyone could tell when they gave me side-eyed looks of curiosity and disdain until I finally pushed my way out through the doors in embarrassment. I guess being a jock meant I couldn't be into music in their eyes. Why did people want everyone else to fit into boxes they could define?

Whatever I thought I'd find there I didn't find it.

I wasn't looking up so I walked right into somebody.

"Really?" Malia asked sarcastically.

I backed away, my eyes on hers. "Sorry."

Someone opened the door and the motion shoved me into her. She stumbled back towards the steps so my hands grabbed her before she could fall back, her body pressed into mine.

Her chestnut eyes flitted around my face in worry. Her warm hands pressed against my chest, a hand right over my heart. She looked down at that hand because of my fast beating heart.

"If you're going to make out can you do it somewhere else?" Someone said as they stormed inside the building.

We looked at each other.

She had the beginnings of a smile on her face, then it faded as fast as it appeared. She pulled away. "Thanks," I nodded, unable to speak because of how good it felt to have her so close, and we've been closer, but it also felt right.

Her eyes let go of mine as she put more distance between. She pulled the sunglasses off the top of her head to cover her eyes, then she was in the safety of the building.

I acknowledged a part of me was drawn to her, so that part of me wanted to follow her and pull her close again. That part didn't have a say. So I headed the steps for anywhere but here.

When practice started my head wasn't in it like usual.

Coach yelled at me, which I was used to, but he could tell that his brand of tough love didn't hit me like it should've. It didn't motivate me to do better or push harder.

Truth be told, I just wanted to go home. But it would never be the same. My mom would never be there waiting for me with a huge smile that made her look youthful. She'd never give me another hug that made me feel like I was the son she was proud to call hers. She'd never give me another encouraging look that affirmed my belief that I was a True Alpha.

For some reason, Coach could see all of that and told me to hit the showers.

"Hey,"

I looked back to see Liam following me. He was one of the freshman players. "What's up?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. Just wanted to make sure you were okay."

My eyes narrowed a little. "Yeah."

His eyes roamed up and down my body, his chemosignals told me he was attracted to me. "Good. I'll be around if you want to talk or anything."

I gave a half smile. "Thanks, Liam." I planted a hand on his shoulder. "Now get back to practice before Coach makes you do suicide runs until your feet bleed."

He nodded with a grin.

As most freshman did, he looked up to the older players with slight awe and leadership. For him, it seemed a little more than that, which was fine, but now was not the time to follow me around like a lost puppy with everything that's been going on.

At lunch, Kira came up to me in the dining hall as I ate with my teammates. A few of them greeted her enthusiastically and slapped me on the back when she asked to talk to me privately.

I waved them off before I followed her to the dish hall.

"What's up?"

She nervously tucked her hair behind her ear and looked at me with her honest eyes. "I know I'm not supposed to be talking to you, but I need your help." She sighed. "We all need your help."

My arms folded across my shoulder. "Kira, you already know my stance on that."

"Okay, we'll just wait until Stiles and Allison are targeted tonight. That's fine." She headed for the doors.

I pulled her back. "What are you talking about?"

She gave me a satisfied smirk. "You know because they were with us at the garage. Whoever's coming after _us_ is now coming after all of you." She let that sink in. "They'll think we're pack and the only way to neutralize retaliation is to finish us all off." She nodded. "Think about that while you're brooding about hating us for something we didn't have anything to do with."

I stared at her with a clenched jaw. She was right, of course, she was. But that didn't make it any easier to extend an olive branch to the daughter of the man that ruined my life out of boredom.

Kira rolled her eyes as she huffed. "I can't believe Malia argued your case. You're just like every other man that holds even the tiniest bit of power." She pointed a finger of feminine empowerment at me as she whisper yelled. "You act like you're God's gift to those who should look up to you. Well, as far as I've seen there's nothing to look up to. You're a selfish, misguidedly righteous Alpha prick and Stiles and Allison follow you because they love you. Not because they believe in you. Why do you think they came to us in the first place?" Her eyes filled with disgust. She gave an irritated laugh. "The sad part is if you were in trouble Malia would be the first person to help you, as rude and nasty as you've been to her, she'd want to make sure you were okay. And if you so much as look at her wrong today I'll make sure you know what it is to feel your skin frying and healing at the same time." She left me with a look that had the potential to kill me if I were human.

I remembered thinking she was nice and innocent at one point, being that she hadn't spoken much since my meeting them. Now I was sure she was anything but.

I rested my head against the wall to think about what she said. What I knew of Malia was that she didn't take bullshit from anyone, least of all a man. The fact that she hadn't kicked my ass yet was frankly astonishing. So what stopped her? Like Kira said, I'd been a prick to her. I knew I have. She didn't have anything to do with my mom's death, I had to accept that. So I repeated it over in my head until I believed it. The first step to protecting everyone would be to make things right.

So I followed my mind and nose to her nearby scent, I pushed out the door to find her stopped at one of the many fountains. She looked up at my approach with sunglass covered eyes, then looked back at the water.

"I can't do sexual tension-filled banter today, McCall. So just leave me alone."

I didn't know what to do with my hands so I shoved them in my pockets. "So this weather..." I gazed around. "It's fickle, huh?"

She shot me what I was sure was a confused look. "What are you doing?"

My shoulders shrugged. "Talking. We're just chatting, right?"

"No." She turned from me and headed her toned legs down the sidewalk away from me.

I easily caught up to her. "Okay. Well, I think we should...do more of that. Talk, I mean. If we're going to save our friends then we need to talk more."

She looked off to the side. "And why would we want to do that? Last I checked you wanted nothing to do with me or my sisters."

My hand scratched at the back of my head. "I was being a dick."

Her head turned to me. "What are you being now?"

"Still a dick, but I'm trying to make things right. How's it going so far?"

I expected her to laugh at that. She didn't.

"How do you think it's going?" She sped up her pace.

I matched mine to hers. "Come on, let me apologize."

"So far you haven't apologized. You just admitted what was already obvious."

A sigh left me. "If you'd stay put for a second I could do more than that."

"You've had plenty of chances before. Why should I let you now?" Her tone fed up.

So was I.

A skateboarder cursed under his breath while his heartbeat picked up.

My hand came around Malia's waist and I pulled her to my side as the skateboarder zoomed past us in the spot she'd been in a second ago. The motion knocked her sunglasses to the ground.

She sunk into my side. Her big, red-rimmed chestnut eyes stared at me, they were so sad and scared that I'd see she was hurt. She peeled herself off of me, picked up her glasses, then kept forward.

"Hey, wait a minute," I followed her. "What's wrong with you?"

"Leave me alone Scott."

I don't know what possessed me to say it, but I did, "Elizabeth."

She paused.

"That's your middle name, isn't it?" I moved the rest of the distance toward her. "You want to work with kids, right? Just to leave a mark on this world so your life meant something." I stepped in front of her, my hand reached for her sunglasses so I could look into her eyes.

She stared back at me. "I've never told anybody that."

I stepped forward. "I'm sorry for how I treated you." My eyes scanned hers. "I shouldn't have turned my back on you. I don't blame you for my mom, but that doesn't mean I don't still blame your dad. That puts us in an interesting position."

Her eyes narrowed. "Does it?"

"If Peter gets involved in this and I see him, I'll kill him."

She pushed my shoulder out of the way to stalk past me. "Like Hell you are."

"What would you do in my position?" I went after her.

"And what would you do in my position?"

I shrugged. "What I felt was right. Malia, you know Peter is far from being a good person, a decent person even. Why are you protecting him if you know that?"

"Because he's Peter. And he's the only real family that I have left." She shoved her sunglasses back onto her face.

I took them off. "What's wrong with you today? You're testier more than usual. Kira threatened to fry me if I made you upset."

She shot me a dirty look. "Why do you care?"

"We're not friends, that's pretty much clear. But I keep coming back to you..." I trailed off. "For whatever reason."

Her gaze softened a smidge. "Any other day I'd be up for this discussion, but not today."

"How are we supposed to protect each other if we don't get to know each other?"

She backed away. "We know each other, Scott." She turned away and left me there.

Later that day, I knocked on Stiles' door because he wouldn't answer my texts or calls. All I wanted to do was apologize and figure out a plan that would save us all and prevent any future casualties.

He answered with a sullen face. "Why you are here?"

"I wanted to apologize."

"What for?" He pushed off the door and turned his back on me. "You're just going to do it again. I know you're the Alpha and all, but we're supposed to be friends, Scott. We're supposed to be able to trust each other with everything. You didn't tell Allie or me about Peter being Malia's biological father after you didn't tell us that they needed our help in the first place." He turned back to me. "Why not?"

My shoulders shrugged. "I'm not sure."

"You're going to have to do better than that."

I met his eyes. "I don't know, Stiles. I connected with her and when I found out I wanted to hate her. That's all I wanted to do."

He sighed. "And if you told us then we'd have to call you out on your lies. You don't hate her. You like her. Not in the same way you love Allison, but there's something there. Is that it?"

My hand ran through my hair. "I don't know how I feel. All I know is that you guys are involved and I can't look the other way if I wanted to."

He nodded. "Why should I believe you?"

"Because I don't want anybody to get hurt, Stiles?!"

"Now that's the Scott I wanted to follow." He neared me. "You've been this other person lately. We understood given the circumstances, but now we can barely recognize you."

I nodded. "I get it. I'll try harder. I promise."

His arms folded across his chest. "I'll forgive you under one condition and we can move past this."

"What is it?"

He cleared his throat. "Tell Allison how you feel about her."

"What?"

"You heard me." He stepped forward. "Tell her that you're in love with her."

I gave a sarcastic laugh. "You're out of your mind. I'm not doing that."

"Why not?"

"Because I know she doesn't feel the same way."

He shrugged. "What if she does?"

"Why do you care? Last time I checked you were into Lydia."

"I don't have a chance with Lydia, that's okay."

I gestured to him. "But you have a chance with Allison? Is that what this is about?"

He shrugged again. "I don't know." His gaze fanned across the room. "That's not the point. She needs to know."

"Why is this so important to you?"

His jaw clenched. "So she can make the choice."

"That's not fair. If I don't want her to know I shouldn't have to tell her for your benefit. If you want her to be with you then tell her everything. Tell her how you pretended to not like her all throughout high school. Because you were being a friend to me."

His head hung. "You knew about that?"

"Stiles, you're one of my best friends. You don't think I know everything about you? I know that you feel guilty for liking her, but you shouldn't."

He gave a cold laugh. "That's easier said than done, man."

I nodded. "Well, I'm telling you that you don't have to feel guilty. So either make your move on her or stop giving me crap about my decision to not tell her."

He sighed, his hand went to the back of my neck. "You're right." He stepped closer. "I'm sorry."

And like that we were good again.

My phone buzzed with a text from Lydia with the address that Peter gave Malia for whatever Theo and his boys were planning for tonight.

I pocketed my phone, then looked back at Stiles. "How's Heather?"

"We have yet to hang out. We've been so busy with this, my mind hasn't really been clear all that much to be around anybody, but I think I'm going to hit her up right now."

"You should do that." I suggested as coolly as I could without giving him any inclination to worry. "It could be good for you. Get out of this apartment." I gave a nonchalant grin.

He nodded as he pulled out his phone. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

I gestured towards the door with my thumb. "Alright, I'm going to head out. Let me know how it goes."

"Sure."

We dapped up, then I left.

MALIA'S POV:

When Kira and Lydia asked me to go with them to get mani-pedis I groaned in annoyance but went nonetheless. I hated salons because they suggested that you had to be dolled up to look beautiful and therefore you already weren't beautiful. Every woman was beautiful and shouldn't have to buy into society's standards of fashion and makeup and hair. Just do whatever you want. Kira and Lydia didn't buy into that notion like I did.

So here I sat in the waiting chairs with the stupid fashion magazines in my hands while I waited for them to be done. We had to deal with this source Peter gave us as soon as we were done. My nerves were a little frazzled. I just wanted it to be over and it felt like it was just beginning.

One of the Asian ladies came up to me. She pointed to my hands. "Do you want nails done?"

My gaze went to her nails. They looked so shiny and red. How would getting something that "enhanced" my appearance affect my personality or my libido? I shook the thought from my head.

"No thank you." I offered a friendly grin.

"Come on," Lydia insisted. "I'll pay for it."

My head shook.

"Just this once, Malia." Kira urged. "You'll like it I promise."

The worker's gaze on me burned brighter until I cracked under the pressure.

I stood. "Fine. Just this once." I glanced at the time on my phone.

We would probably be cutting it close, but we could make it in time to ambush Theo and the others.

"Follow me." The worker said.

I followed her to the massage chairs the girls sat at. I took off my shoes and socks, then let the lady do her job.

She turned on the chair.

Good Lord. I felt that in my pussy.

"It's just a one-time thing," I assured them.

They gave me knowing looks.

"Now you know why we come here." Lydia gave a sly grin.

Kira winked at me.

I gave a small laugh as I sat back and relaxed while my feet soaked in the warm water. Today of all days, I needed this.

SCOTT'S POV:

Allison appeared at my door as I opened it on my way out.

"Woah, Allie." I took a step back. "What are you doing here?" My tone a little frantic being that if I wanted to ambush these guys before they came after us my window of opportunity was small.

She pointed to the bag on my shoulder. "What's that?"

"Just books. I'm headed to the library now," I locked the door behind me. "So I'll catch you later."

"I'll come with actually." She tagged along.

I cleared my throat. "Uh-"

"Yeah, I know." She shook her head at me. "How could you possibly think you'd go at this alone?"

My determination to keep her out of it sagged. "How'd you find out?"

"I was texting Lydia and she was under the impression that Stiles and I knew." She gave an irritated laugh. "Why would she think that seeing as you never tell us anything anymore?"

I huffed. "What I'm about to do is dangerous. I don't want you and Stiles in it, that's why I'm doing this. Stiles is with Heather. Now you should be anywhere else right now."

Her arms propped on her hips. "We're pack, Scott. Why would you think I'd let you do this alone?"

I pulled her off to the side, my anger started to rise. "Because I'm asking you to. Can you just do as you're told for once?"

Her mouth dropped open, then her hand slapped me across the face with a deafening hit. It didn't physically hurt, but emotionally it pained me.

My eyes gazed into hers. "I deserved that."

She nodded. "Yeah, you did."

In a last attempt, my hands went to her shoulders. "I don't want you there. Please, go back to your dorm and do anything else? I'm begging you."

Her eyes searched mine. "I'm not letting you fight this alone. Even if it means I get hurt."

"I'm worried about you _dying_!" I stressed.

She pulled a metal chain out of her back pocket. "Stiles taught me how to use this. I can help you. Don't make me into a damsel in distress." She stepped forward with strength. "I can do this."

I huffed. "If something happens to you Stiles will kill me."

Her jaw clenched at the mention of his name. "Stiles isn't here." She pulled away from my touch and marched down the stairs. "Let's go."

Adoration for my strong willed, brave, and trusting best friend filled my chest as I followed her.

Once we got near the location Allie parked her car a half a mile away from the building and we trekked the rest on foot. We looked at each other in nervousness, but we pushed on.

"Allie," I whispered as we got closer. "If anything happens, know that I love you. You're my best friend and-"

Her hand grabbed mine. "I know."

No, she didn't know. Not like I wanted her to.

Nonetheless, I nodded.

"I love you, too." She whispered back, then crept forward through the rest of the trees once the building was in sight.

I unzipped my bag to get the ultraviolet lights. As long as I didn't use my night vision they wouldn't hurt my eyes as badly. I tossed her a few to scatter outside. I grabbed a smoke bomb, activated it, then threw it into a whole in the nearest window. I motioned for Allison to scurry around the building.

The talking amongst the men in the building seized once the smoke filled the air. A few started to cough.

"Go check it out." Someone demanded.

I tossed Allison the crossbow, knowing she already knew how to use it.

She caught it with confidence and readied herself.

The first person to round the corner she put an arrow in their leg.

He growled, ripped it out and charged her.

She put another into his stomach.

I turned around in time to miss the blow to my back. I uppercut the guy to the ribs hard enough to break a few.

He howled on the ground.

Another guy threw a knife in the air at Allison, but I grabbed it before it could pierce her head. Enraged, I threw it back at him, pinning his shoulder against a tree. He bared his fangs at me.

Allison swung out her weapon to a girl's head.

The girl hit the ground with a groan.

Allison grabbed her face then brought her knee to it with great force to knock her out.

I grinned at her.

She grinned at me, it fell, then she shot someone behind me.

I turned only to be shocked to find Liam with an arrow in his chest.

He ripped it out in shock as he stared at me.

"Liam?" I rushed forward. "What are you doing here?" I pressed my hand to his wound to stop the bleeding.

"You know him?" Allison asked.

"I was on a run and I saw you two come this way." He wore exercise clothes with a sheen of sweat on his skin.

"Scott?" Allison called. "More are coming."

My jaw clenched. "Take Liam to the hospital. I've got this."

She shook her head. "I'm not leaving you here." She brought her crossbow up to aim at the next redshirt.

Liam looked around us at the bodies unconscious. "Are they dead?"

"No," I assured.

The guy against the tree finally got the knife out his shoulder and aimed it at Liam.

As I tried to deflect it, it went through my hand. I let out a growl. With a groan, I pulled it out in time enough to stand and dodge his blows. My knee went to his stomach. I threw the knife near Liam so he'd have some sort of protection.

The guy swept my feet from under me.

I landed on my back with a thud.

He attacked me with swift punches to the face.

"Scott," Allison called as she was dragged around the corner out of sight by two men.

An Alpha's growl ripped through my throat, which stilled everyone around. Everyone's eyes glowed with their ranking, morality, and species. Not a single pair of yellow eyes stared back at us.

Liam's fear heightened near me.

My hand went to his chest meaning to push him off of me, but he flew into the air and hit a tree, then thudded to the forest floor.

I shot to my feet. "Allison!"

"Scott?" Liam called, backed against the building with the knife clutched in front of him.

With no other option, I grabbed him and ran after Allison.

The others chased us.

Liam's scream filled the air. He had no idea what he had gotten himself into when he followed us.

He ran to the corner once we got inside the building.

Allison stood in the middle of the room with tears in her eyes. The guy I assumed was Theo had his claws were at her neck.

I froze where I stood.

He grinned at me. "I'm Theo. Nice to finally meet you, Scott."

My hands raised in the air. "Don't hurt her."

"What would be the fun in that?"

I neared them.

He backed away. "Easy. You don't want me to get nervous and open up her throat by accident do you?"

"If you hurt her-"

"You'll kill me?" He chuckled. "See, I've heard about you. Scott McCall, the first True Alpha in ages. You've never killed anybody and you never will."

My head shook. "You don't want to test that theory." I glanced around the room at the men. "What do you want?"

They chuckled, most of them injured by our hands.

"That's simple." Theo sniffed Allison's hair sickeningly. "We want you to die." He glared at me, then his eyes slid to Liam in interest. "But I'll tell you what, I'll let the girl go for now if he comes with us."

I looked back at Liam.

He practically trembled in fear, his eyes begged mine not to let that happen.

Part of me wanted to agree to that just so Allison would be safe, but in a way, Liam was here because of me. He hadn't done anything wrong. He just came to the wrong place at the wrong time.

I turned back to Theo. "You're not taking him."

His brow arched. "So the girl then?" He pressed his body against hers, promise sat in his eyes of what he would do to her.

"You're not taking her either." My eyes glared red. "I'll take you down if I have to."

"With what army?"

Just then two of the men closest to the door were wrapped in electricity. They screamed in agony as Kira appeared.

Lydia's scream put a few on the ground, their hands covered their ears as they tried to scramble away from it.

Then Malia crashed through a window behind Theo. She landed on one knee, her chestnut hair flew behind her head as she stood with the strongest feminine confidence I've ever seen. Her eyes glowed a brilliant blue.

A few guys charged her.

She kicked out her leg to put one down, kicking him in the balls. Another she threw into the wall. The last one still decided it was a good idea to take her on and her hand shot out into his chest and ripped out his heart. She took in Allison being held captive and let out a growl that had the potential to be from an Alpha.

Theo threw Allison on the floor to ready for the fight that was sure to come.

I went to Allison's side, my hands grasped her head. "Did he hurt you?" I demanded.

She shook her head.

I hugged her to me tight in relief.

Scream filled the air.

I turned around to see one of the werewolf's as he tore into Liam. I rushed forward to throw him off of Liam.

He had a crazed look in his blue eyes as he charged me.

I punched him in the throat to put him down.

Liam laid on the floor, his side ripped, his chest clawed up, and blood splattered his clothes. His weak eyes stared into mine. "Help me."

Allison went to him. Her eyes found mine. "I'll get him out of here."

Kira and Lydia were preoccupied with taking care of the men that thought they could win in a fight with someone as strong as them.

Malia was on the ground, her hand clutched her shoulder.

Theo aimed a gun at Allison and Liam.

A warning growl from me filled the room.

His gun turned to me and fired away.

I braced for the pain that was seconds away from putting me on the ground. Only it didn't come.

The strained sound of a groan opened my eyes.

Malia stood in front of me, she bravely took the bullets for me. Her blue eyes flared back into mine. "Go!" She turned around and let out a growl.

My eyes went to the wounds in her back and I wanted to fix it.

"Scott, go!" She reiterated.

With a nod, I followed Allison and Liam. I looked back at the sound of flesh hitting flesh and artillery. Doubt ebbed in me, but I knew I had to get Liam away from all this. We had to get him to a hospital.

On the way out, I nodded at Lydia to let her know I'd activate the flashers. Allison ran to while I made sure they were activated for their benefit.

Allison laid him in the back seat of her car. She looked at me. "She's going to be okay,"

I wanted to say I wasn't worried about Malia, but I was. She took bullets for me. Why? I could've handled it. I could've healed quicker than her. How did she even know where we were? Then I realized my growl if loud enough would've told them our location. Lydia told me she'd do her best to hold them off, convince them to rethink ambushing them tonight, but obviously, that didn't work.

She turned to me as we neared the hospital. "We can't take him in there." She reasoned. "They'll figure out about you guys. That's not human DNA in his wounds."

My jaw clenched.

"I can do a decent job cleaning him up and stitching up his wounds." Assurance rang in her voice.

I nodded.

We got Liam back to my apartment as quickly as possible. Reasons like this were why I chose to live off campus, away from the off-campus apartments, to have the privacy when I needed it.

Allison raced for my first aid kit.

"Are you sure he doesn't need a hospital?" I asked.

She looked at me. "How are we going to explain claw marks along his body? There's no wildlife that could do that kind of damage in this part of the city."

I shrugged. "I doubt they'd be thinking about that and more about saving a life."

"He's not going to die." She assured.

The door pushed open once she got him cleaned up and squared away. Lydia and Kira had draped Malia's arms around their necks as they dragged her in.

She was beaten black and blue. A busted lip dried, a swollen eye, and a back shot to Hell.

They sat her down on the couch.

Allison went to attend to her.

"Is she okay?" I asked.

"Does she look okay?" Kira demanded, her tone callous.

"Ease up," Allison spoke up for me.

"Why should I? This is his fault that she's hurt this badly. If he hadn't ignored the problem in the first place it wouldn't have gotten this far."

Allison stood to her feet with a look of injustice. "Scott didn't have to do anything. He holds no allegiance to any of you. He helped you because he wanted to."

Kira walked the short distance to get into her face. "No, he took action because his pack was in danger!"

Allison stepped closer. "He helped out because it was the right thing to do!"

Lydia got between them, her delicate looking hand pressed against Kira's chest. "It's been a rough day so let's all just calm down."

Allison took a step back, her hands raised. "Whatever." She went back to Allison, getting the bullets out of her back.

Kira rolled her eyes then headed for the door. "Make sure she doesn't fall asleep. She's got a concussion."

We looked back at Malia as she faded in and out of consciousness.

Allison ran to my kitchen, retrieved a bottle and needle of something she had stashed in one of the cabinets. "Adrenaline. A little bit should wake her up."

Kira headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Lydia probed.

"To find Theo."

Lydia grabbed her arm. "Are you crazy?"

She ripped her arm away. "Am I just going to stand around here and wait for you guys to come up with a plan that results in no retaliation?"

"Kira?" Malia called weakly from the couch.

We looked at her.

"You can't go looking for him." She said.

Kira backed away. "Watch me." She closed the door behind her.

"You have to go after her." Malia told Lydia.

Lydia nodded then headed after her sister.

Malia and I looked at each other. A sense of great worry from earlier still rang in our connection. She looked terrible and I hated that she looked that way because of something I did.

I broke it to look back at Liam.

He didn't look like he was getting any better. The sweat worsened on his skin, sticking his dark hair to his face and neck. His groans grew more intense. Nonsensical mumbling slipped under his breath.

Allison looked at me after she finished taking care of Malia. "He's getting worse. Maybe we do need to take him to a hospital,"

Malia rose from the couch and shuffled to us on shaky legs. Her eyes ran over him. "He's having an allergic reaction. The only cure would be the gunpowder from one of the bullets that shot him. We don't have the time to get that. He'll be dead in a few minutes." She met my gaze. "You have to give him the bite."

"What? No way." I shook my head. "That's out of the question."

Her jaw hardened. "He'll die if you don't."

"I wasn't given a choice and the bite ruined my life. I'm not going to do that to someone else!"

I looked down at him and knew she was right. He was at Death's door. The implications of I didn't, Liam would die and there'd be an investigation around his case, around us. That wouldn't be good for anybody.

"You have to, Scott." Allison agreed. Her eyes begged mine to understand.

There was no way out of this. No last minute loophole. I had to forever change Liam's life for the worst.

My eyes went to Malia's.

She gave me a look of strength, of confidence.

I turned back to Liam with the regret simmering, my hands grabbed his arm before I bit down into his flesh.

He let out protests of discomfort.

Allison and Malia held him down.

His eyes shot open, then he turned on his side to throw up the black blood onto my floor, and Malia's combat boots and shorts.

"You've got to be kidding me?" She grumbled.

I bit back a laugh.

Her brown eyes snapped to mine and she let out a tiny growl.

That made me actually laugh despite the situation. I stared at her in amusement and her annoyance lessened.

She tore her gaze away and looked around the apartment. "Where's your bathroom?"

"First door on the right." Allison and I answered together.

Malia marched forward, weak and irritated.

I looked back at Allison.

A grin found her face.

"Don't start, Allie."

"What?" She asked innocently.

"You know what."

She shrugged. "I'm just being friendly."

"No, you're plotting. I can tell because you have a crinkle in your nose. You always get it when you're trying to fix something."

"Isn't there something to fix?"

I thought back to our conversation earlier. While I didn't foresee Malia and I becoming friends right out of the gate I did see us warming up to each other. At this point, we didn't have a choice. Then there was this unspoken connection we had between us, one that was extremely accurate, and wouldn't leave my mind no matter how hard I tried to ignore it.

"Where should I take Liam?" Allison asked.

"He can't go back to his dorm. He'll have to stay here for the night." I nodded to the door. "You should go. It's been a crazy night. You need to get some rest."

She offered a grin. "You're one to talk." She glanced down at Liam, then sighed. She headed for the door.

"Allie?"

She turned around.

"About earlier, when you defended me." I walked closer to her. "Thank you. I know I haven't given you many reasons to side with me lately, so thanks for having my back."

Her eyes searched mine. "Always." She reached out for a hug.

My arms wrapped around her tightly and I wished we could stay like this forever. I wished she wasn't into my other best friend. I wished I had the guts to tell her how I felt long ago.

She pulled away. "Be nice to her," She looked at me. "Or I'll kick your ass."

I gave a tired laugh. "We don't want that."

"No, we don't." She laughed as she turned for the door. She gave a tired wave. "Night."

"Night." I watched her go.

I turned back to Liam with a huff. He stirred from passing out again after he threw up.

"You bit me." He stood on unsteady legs.

My arms went out cautiously. "You were sick."

"I wasn't sick, I was dying!"

"Calm your voice," I moved closer.

He stepped back. "Stay away from me." He circled around me for the door. "You stay away from me."

"Liam, you don't understand."

He grabbed a candle holder from a nearby table. "I understand if you come near me again I'll call the police." His eyes full of fear and desperation as he glared at me. "Got it?"

I nodded.

He backed out of the door quickly, then he was off.

"That was your painful to listen to,"

I turned around to find Malia in my Lacrosse sweatshirt and her underwear. Her hair was up in messy bun, she looked comfortable. And hot. And for some reason I liked having her in my clothes. Another round of deja vu hit me and I couldn't help but stare at her.

She gave a lazy grin. "Do you mind if I crash on your couch tonight? I don't think I can make the trek back to my tr-" She cut herself off.

"Back to your treehouse?"

Her forehead creased. "You followed me?"

I headed for the couch. "You can take my bed." I eased down on the cushions steadily.

"And let you sleep on that? You're hurt pretty badly."

"Not as much as you. Besides, I heal faster." I put my arm over my eyes. "Can you hit the light?"

Darkness filled the room.

She grabbed my hand to pull me off the couch.

My eyes snapped open. "What are you doing?"

"Taking you to bed." She chuckled at the look on my face. "Relax. I'm not trying to seduce you, McCall. At least, not tonight."

I followed, too tired to protest. And honestly, my bed would feel amazing right now.

"Hey, this is my side." I stood by the right side of the bed.

She shrugged. "It's mine now."

My eyes rolled, but I let her have it.

We peeled the covers back then slipped inside with a collective sigh of relief.

I shut my eyes and tried to sleep, but it wouldn't come.

"You smell terrible." She finally commented.

I turned my head towards hers. "I could probably use a shower."

"Not like that," She cleared her throat. "You're a melting pot of emotions. I can't fall asleep with it distracting me." She turned her head to look at me. "What's on your mind?"

I sighed. "What you did today was brave. You shouldn't have done it. I haven't given you a reason to that's for sure."

"I wasn't under the impression you cared."

"You could've died, Malia. Something about that hurts. It shouldn't, but it does."

"Look who has feelings," She smirked.

I cracked a grin. "Still. Thank you. You didn't have to do that."

She looked toward the ceiling. "Yes, I did."

I relaxed a bit. "Why were you sad today?"

She stayed quiet.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

She looked back at me and blew out a restless breath. "My little sister died five years ago today. I can go the whole year without thinking about her and getting sad, but this date...just makes me irritable. When you tried to apologize before, I wasn't ready to accept it. I appreciate you apologizing. You didn't have to."

I nodded. "Yes, I did." I pulled an arm behind my head. "Whatever I've got going on, it shouldn't have affected how I treated you. Because I couldn't see that people got hurt."

"Scott," She tried to disagree.

"Liam almost died. He was only there because of me, Lia."

She moved closer to me. "You can't blame yourself for that." Her hand went to my bicep. "None of us knew any of this was going to happen."

"I should've done something sooner," I reiterated. "I'm going to help him, make sure he understands what's happening to him. He can't go through that alone."

Her brown eyes gazed into mine. "If we blamed ourselves for every death that happened around us we would be hollow inside. I know what it is to lose someone you loved more than anything. Liam isn't your mom. You can't make him into a second chance."

I stared back, nervous that she saw so much of me. "That's not what I'm trying to do."

"Isn't it?" She laid back on her side.

I laid on mine.

The room filled with the sound of our breathing, passing cars, and the unspoken words that passed between us until we faded into unconsciousness.

When I woke the next morning she was gone, the spot she left on the bed now cold and empty, and that saddened me.

After my shower I gathered everyone at the dining hall for lunch. We sat in one of the more private rooms for less prying eyes and eavesdropping ears.

Malia sat across from me, her shoulder length hair was wet from a shower. She took a sip of her sweet tea and looked up at me with those chestnut eyes. She grinned around her straw.

I gave a small laugh.

Lydia sat beside her with Kira on her other side.

"Hey," I spoke to them.

"Hey, Scott." Lydia offered a friendly smile.

Kira didn't.

Allison sat beside me. She looked so effortlessly beautiful in her black and white striped sweater, green skater skirt, and jean jacket. Her glasses perched on the bridge of her nose with her dark hair up into a bun.

She looked up at me. "What?"

I shook my head. "Nothing. You look nice is all." I immediately felt my face get hot with all the pairs of female eyes on me.

"Thanks." She bit into an apple.

I met Malia's eyes.

She shook her head in disappointment, but held a sense of amusement in the set of her mouth.

"We have to get to Liam before he says anything."

"How do we do that when he won't talk to us?" Lydia asked.

"Kidnap him." Malia suggested.

"We're not kidnapping him."

She leaned forward. "Then what are we going to do? You got a better idea?"

I leaned forward. "We're not kidnapping him."

Our eyes locked and we understood each other. We sat back.

Stiles arrived, he gestured that he was eating with Heather at another table. They laughed and giggled like kids.

I could feel Allison's worry and annoyance building.

"What's the matter with you?" Kira asked Allison.

"Nothing," She shoved away from the table and stood. "Going to the salad station to make a smoothie. Anybody want anything?"

I shook my head, my gaze went to Malia's.

She did the same.

"We have to figure out something," Lydia announced.

Allison headed for the door with a purpose, to probably block out Stiles with Heather.

"Are those two like a thing?" Lydia asked.

"No," I answered.

I wanted to say not yet but with Heather now here, it felt as if things were on a different path. It was hard to say if Stiles still liked Heather or if they were simply catching up. Did I want them to be more so I could have a chance with Allison? I knew in the back of my mind that Allison didn't want me and I tried to keep that into perspective in all of this. If I didn't have a chance with Allison then shouldn't I try to move on? With Malia or someone else, I wasn't sure.

"Maybe you should go talk to her," Malia suggested.

I looked at her a little surprised that she suggested that. I kind of felt like she liked me more than I liked her. Well, I think she wanted to have sex with me more than I did with her. What man wouldn't want sex? It would be nice to do it again because the first time was so good, but what followed afterward wasn't so great. She should heed that like I did.

"Allison can take care of herself." I insisted. She was one of the strongest women I knew next to my mom.

Kira huffed. "About Liam, what are we going to do?"

My jaw clenched. "I don't know."

ALLISON'S POV:

I walked up to the salad bar. I just wanted a moment away from the two former lovebirds. Ever since they hung out she was all he talked about. I didn't know if they were getting back together, but I did know that I wasn't going to sit around and mope over a boy. So I was going to make a smoothie.

I picked out the fruit I wanted and a little spinach to get in my greens otherwise I wouldn't get them in.

As I made my way to the blender I noticed a tall muscled body coming my way. I looked up to see Isaac and rolled my eyes.

"Good evening to you, too." He smirked.

I dumped my food into the blender. "I thought we finished our conversation the other day. This wasn't an invitation to start a new one."

He all but hovered over me whereas Stiles and I were the same height pretty much.

He stared at me.

"What?"

He stared into my eyes. "You just look really pretty today. I thought you should know."

With my hand on the top I felt my face blushing. "If you expect me to say it back I'm not going to." I started the blender with red cheeks.

He leaned against the counter and waited for me to be done blending. When I stopped to check the consistency he started, "I was wondering if-"

The roaring of the blender again cut him off.

He waited patiently.

I poured my smoothie into the glass. My eyes met his, expectant for him to finish his sentence.

"Are you ready for me to talk now?"

I waved it off. "If you have to." I sipped at the cold beverage.

He gave a tiny grin. "You're being the mean one now. I don't know if I want to ask you on a date or not anymore."

The glass stilled on my lips. "Excuse me?"

His grey green eyes deepened. "A date. You and me. What do you say?"

I moved back with a nervous laugh. "If this is one of those jock challenge dare things I'll pass. I've seen _She's All That_ but I don't think that's going to be us." I turned on my heels.

He came after me. "That's not what this is," Amusement filled his voice at the insinuation. "Why not?"

I glanced over my shoulder. "Because you're you and I'm me."

"That really explains it." Sarcasm dripped from his voice much like Stiles.

I scoffed. "You don't even know me. Why do you want to go out with me?"

He gave me an incredulous look. "Have you seen you?"

The complement went to my face and it heated up. "That's it?" My annoyance with the male gender flared. "Just because you think I'm cute?"

"Hot's more like it," He grinned. " And I like that you don't like me."

I gave him a look. "What's wrong with you?"

He chuckled. "See."

My eyes narrowed at him.

"How about you think about it and I'll ask you again in a few days?"

I was a little speechless so I just stared at him.

"You're not used to guys asking you out are you?"

My eyes rolled. "Bye Isaac."

He gave a dazzling dimpled smile. "I was beginning to think you forgot my name."

"How could I with you stalking me?" I was surprised by the playful venom in my voice.

"Stalking you? If that's what you think this is then brace yourself."

He realized how creepy that sounded and he actually blushed in embarrassment.

I laughed. "Can't wait." I surprised myself.

I headed the rest of the way to my table of friends. Well, friend and potential friends, and maybe one foe. I liked Malia and Lydia alright but Kira was something else.

Everyone's eyes fell on me, but Scott's felt the heaviest.

"What?" I demanded with my smoothie in hand.

"That's Isaac Lahey you were just talking to," Kira started. "Literally the biggest fuckboy in this school. What's he doing talking to you?"

I shrugged. "It's nothing."

Scott stilled. "Was he the jock you were complaining about the other day?"

My eyes focused on the glass. "It's not a big deal."

"Allie?"

My hand tightened around the glass. "Scott," I looked at him. I didn't need him to protect me from someone like Isaac or someone like that Theo character. I just needed him to believe in me.

"So about Liam," Malia started. "We're kidnapping him."

Scott looked to her. "We're not kidnapping him."

Her brow rose. "How are you going to stop me?"

I grinned to myself.

He sighed.

"Can you guys not flirt in front of us? It makes me want to gag." Kira stood with her food and left.

Lydia gave me an apologetic look. "Give her a few days, she'll be nicer." Her tone suggestive that Kira was on her period.

I was under the impression that Kira just didn't like me or Scott. I found it hard to believe that that would magically change once she was off her period.

"Can we just press pause on the Liam/Revenge business for today?" I rested my hand on his shoulder and laid my head on it.

He leaned his head on top of mine. "You know we can't do that, Allie."

I sighed. "I know."

Lydia cleared her throat. "Stiles keeps staring over here."

I looked at her. "He does?"

She put on a smile. "He's coming this way, act normal."

I pulled away from Scott to look at him, only he had Heather by his side.

"Guys, this is Heather." He pointed at her. "And this is everyone, minus Kira."

She held out a hand. "I'm Heather, nice to meet you." She gave a nervous laugh. "But you already knew that."

I shook her hand. "Allison. Nice to meet you." I offered a soft smile, my eyes went to Stiles'.

He looked at me with hesitant eyes.

"You too." Heather said, then shook hands with everybody else.

My eyes stayed on Stiles until I stood. "I have to go work." I looked down at Scott. "Keep me updated."

He nodded, then turned his gaze back onto Heather.

"What time do you get off?" Malia asked.

"One to three-thirty." I slid my backpack over my shoulder.

She gestured to me with her fry. "I'll be there. I need help with Math."

"You know I can help you," Lydia said.

She looked at her. "Every time I don't get a problem you get upset."

Lydia didn't even try to deny it.

I cracked a grin. "See you there." My eyes held onto hers.

She smiled, then turned her gaze to Stiles and her smile fell.

I headed out of the dining hall for the tutoring center. With my own books cracked open, my eyes ran over the words to retain the knowledge and it worked for a while, then my mind went to how we were going to figure out these new problems in our lives. There had to be a way that didn't result in any of us dead. I'd find it.

Matt sat down beside me with a sigh. "Doesn't it feel like we're getting paid for nothing? Not that I'm complaining, I just feel like I'm wasting my time, you know?"

I nodded. "Yeah," I closed the book I no longer had any interest in. My phone read one forty-five. "As soon as the first tests are over with and everyone sees how badly they've done they'll come to us." I was sure of it.

He met my eyes. "What's wrong with you? You're usually a lot less glum."

I shrugged. "Things on my mind, that's all."

"You want to talk about it?"

My head shook.

He offered a grin. "It's not like we don't have the time."

I stared at him and realized that Matt had become a friend, a casual friend, but a friend nonetheless.

"Maybe another time." I leaned forward on my elbow. "What about you? I saw you with Erica yesterday. How long has that been going on?" I playfully shoved his shoulder.

He smiled. "I don't know what you're talking about," He reddened.

I gave him a knowing look.

He cracked with a shy laugh. "We've just been hanging out. She's really nice and smart. Funny, too."

"And hot." I added.

"That too." He laughed.

I patted his shoulder. "I think you should go for it."

"That's not going to happen." He shook his head.

"What's not going to happen?" Malia asked as she walked our way in a confident stride that filled the air around her with feminine prowess.

I gestured to Matt. "Matt here likes this girl and won't make a move."

Malia eyed him. "Why not?"

He motioned to himself. "Look at me. I don't even know why this girl is talking to me, letting alone hanging out with me."

Malia pointed her finger at him. "Stand up."

"What?"

"Stand up." She repeated.

He stood nervously.

She inspected him. "Oh, I can see why you'd think that. We've got to get you out of these clothes." She met my gaze. "You in the mood for a shopping spree. That wasn't a question by the way."

"What about Math? You said you needed help with it."

A grin found her lips. "That was a ruse. I just wanted to hang out with you without Scott jumping down my throat."

I choked on a laugh, fondness filled my chest. "Let's go."

"What about the rest of our shifts?" Matt asked.

"We'll tell them we're sick." I improvised with a shrug.

We ended up at the mall twenty minutes later, the three of us in Malia's jeep. We walked down the halls in attempt to find clothing store appropriate for Matt.

"Are you guys sure about this?" He asked from inside a dressing room.

"Do it." We said together.

We grinned at each other.

"Hey, do you want to see pictures of Scott from high school?"

She nodded. "Duh."

I whipped out my phone and went to my facebook photos. I let her scroll through them.

She laughed at one of us at the musical Stiles was in. "What is this hair?"

"I thought it was cute and moppy."

Her eyes went to mine in question, then back to my phone. She clicked on his lacrosse pics with Stiles. "I bet he had all the girl's heart's beating."

"Scott?" I pondered it. "Maybe. He had a few girlfriend's, but they didn't amount to much."

"Why do you think that is?"

"Uh..." I thought about it. "I'm not sure. I always figured he was too afraid to get attached to someone because of college. Scott was always more into protecting the town and us to be focused on one girl."

She nodded. "And now?"

My legs crossed. "You tell me." My shoulder nudged hers. "Don't you two have something going on?"

She looked at me with a laugh. "Not even. He's not into me." She sounded slightly sad.

"Then who is he into?"

"I don't think you want me to answer that."

My forehead creased. What did that mean?

A tiny bit of fear sat in her eyes.

Matt came out of the dressing room. "Are you guys sure about this?"

He wore dark jeans that weren't the baggy mess he had before, a black shirt that fit his frame with a leather jacket. Malia decided he needed new shoes so she made him try on standard motorcycle boots.

Malia got up to run her fingers through his hair to style it, then stepped away.

I stood up, amazed by the transformation.

"Wow." I grinned. "You look good."

Malia leaned an arm on my shoulder. "I think he'll get the girl."

He looked at his reflection in the mirrors and sighed. "I don't look like myself."

"No, but now you look extremely fuckable. Isn't that what you wanted?"

He looked at me.

I stepped forward. "You like Erica, right?"

He nodded.

"If she likes you then she won't be able to keep her hands off of you, I promise."

"But that's not what I want from her." He looked down at himself. "I just want to keep watching Pretty Little Liars with her so she'd lean against me. I just want to make her laugh with my magic tricks." He grabbed a hold of his clothes. "This isn't me."

Malia and I looked at each other.

"Stay here, we'll be back with more options." I tugged her along. "We were wrong. We tried to make Matt into some suave bad boy, but he's far from either of those. We need to think flannel and graphic tees that actually fit."

She thought about it. "Make him look like the safest good guy, but a stylish one. So a hipster?"

"Exactly. He can pull that off, can't he?"

She nodded.

We handed him a pile of new clothes to try on.

He sighed in relief. "Now this is more like it."

I grinned to myself. The last thing I wanted was to make someone into someone they're not.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. "Scott? You okay?"

"Yeah," He sighed. "We got Liam with us."

"Did he have to kidnap him?" Malia teased.

"No, we didn't." He shot back.

She grabbed the phone from my hand and held it to her ear. "McCall, we're in the middle of something, is this important or can you wait an hour until we get there?"

I didn't know what he said, but whatever it was made her smile.

"Of course you are. Don't do anything I wouldn't do. Bye now." She hung up.

I stared at her. "What did he want?"

"To ask you to Prom, what do you think he wanted?" She handed my phone back. "He wanted to make sure you were okay after lunch."

My brow arched.

"With Stiles and everything." She glanced at Matt's door. "That kind of sucks. I think you should tell Stiles how you feel and it'll be goodbye Heather, you know what I mean?"

I looked down. "I don't think that's how it works."

"Come on, Allison," She grabbed my shoulder. "You're a beautiful, intelligent, strong girl. Stiles has to see that. Why wouldn't he be into you?"

I shrugged. "If he was then how come he hasn't said anything?"

She gave a smirk. "Allie, it's 2017. You can make the first move."

"Is that what you did with Scott?"

Her smirk turned into a laugh. "And I got what I wanted."

My face scrunched up. "I do not want to picture that."

"If you don't see how hot Scott is then you must be blind."

"He's like a brother to me. If you had a brother would you want to think about him being hot?"

She nodded. "Point taken."

"If you want I'll talk to him for you?"

She gave a wry laugh. "That's okay."

Matt stepped out with a comfortable grin on his face. "This is more like it."

We grinned, pleased with ourselves.

She turned to me. "How about a little shopping for us?"

I nodded in approval.

Malia left her bags at my apartment because she didn't want to junk up wherever she was staying, she wouldn't tell me. We made our way over to Scott's surrounded in our laughter.

I opened the door, we walked into a room full of tension and arguments.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me about this," Stiles glared at Scott. "How could you not tell me about this?"

Scott pushed him back. "I was trying to keep you out of it. Besides, you were a little busy with Heather to notice."

Lydia stepped between them. "Okay, let's take a beat."

Stiles laughed darkly. "That's rich. We both know you're hoping for me to get back together with her so you can have your chance with Allison!"

I stilled in my spot on the floor along with everyone else. My eyes went to Scott's for him to disagree.

His nervous brown eyes slid to mine. He tried to say something, whether to deny it or confirm it, I didn't know. But I did know that the way he stared at me in the moment was enough to make what Stiles said true.

"Oh my God." I backed out the way and turned for the door.

"Allison," Scott called.

My head shook as tears brimmed in my eyes. I couldn't hear this. I've always prided my relationship with Scott being the only one I knew of as a male female platonic friendship. Things between us were always good and seemingly sibling like. Now I guess that wasn't true.

Malia pushed her arm in front of me to keep me from getting out of the door. "You can't leave."

"Let her go." Scott instructed.

Her arm faltered, but she let me go.

I rushed out of there as fast as I could. Why? Why was this happening to us? Why couldn't we just have a normal college experience like everyone else, move to different states, and distant, but remain casual friends? Why did Scott have to like me? And why had he never told me before? Stiles knew, so did everyone else?

SCOTT'S POV:

I watched Allison flee in horror at the news that I liked her, thankfully Stiles hadn't said I was in love with her. She might as well as jumped out the window in disgust.

My jaw tightened, my eyes glowed red as I glowered at Stiles. "You couldn't wait to tell her," I growled.

"At least, I have the balls to do it!"

We shoved forward each other.

Lydia's hands pressed on our chests. She gave her Banshee Scream that had us both covering our ears. Her hard green eyes skated between us. "Take a beat." She repeated. She looked at Stiles. "You should go find her. Don't let her be alone right now."

He looked at me, huffed, then headed for the door. He slammed it shut.

Lydia went to sink into the couch beside Liam and Kira.

I looked to Malia with wild red eyes, my testosterone still flared.

She came to stand in front of me. "How about a milkshake?"

I stared at her from across the booth as she sipped her chocolate milkshake. Her red painted nails caught my attention. She didn't seem like the kind of girl that painted her nails, but I assumed that it was part of Lydia distraction for me to go after Theo. Still, they looked good on her.

"Are you sure you don't want one?"

I nodded, my eyes went off to the side.

"Did you do the reading for African American Lit yet?"

My head shook.

"Well, I read ahead. Larry Neal is really on it. You'll like him when we get to it." She offered me her milkshake. "Drink."

My head shook.

"I know how you must be feeling right now, but it's okay."

My eyes met hers. "You didn't have the girl you're in love with run away at the thought of you liking her, so no, I don't think you know how I feel."

Her first opened. "Look, I know that what Stiles did was really shitty, but it's not the end of the world. Allison is just one girl among the many that would kill to be with you. If she doesn't like you then move on or fight for her."

"That's not what this is about."

She leaned forward. "Yeah, you're mad at Stiles for outing you. You're mad because you couldn't do the same because it would mean that both of your best friends would know that they're in love with each other and that makes you so incredibly angry that you want to hurt them as much as they hurt you...but you can't."

My eyes rolled. "Because I'm a True Alpha?"

"Because you're Scott. Even when you were mad at me you still saved my life. I don't think there's a murderous bone in your body."

I stared at her. "Then you'd be wrong."

She stared back. "I know that's not true."

"You don't know me, Malia."

Her brow arched. She pulled out her phone and played _Close Your Eyes_ by Rhodes.

My mind was instantly filled with flashes of us playing this on my back porch, on my bed, and at a school surrounded by children, the love we shared in those memories was enough to leave me breathless. I blinked them away to gaze at her.

"Still think I don't know you, Scott?"

I gulped. "You saw those, too?"

She nodded. "I see them in my dreams. Whenever I pick up my guitar now I see you, us playing together." She played with her straw. "It's the strangest thing. It's like we lived this other life and now we're remembering fragments of it."

"Like reincarnation?"

"No," She looked off to the side, then back at me. "That life was almost identical to this one. I've seen glimpses of our friends, but I can't make out anything beyond that. You played Lacrosse there. We went to Beacon Hills high school. Things weren't from another time period. How is that possible?"

"We're both not hallucinating so there has to be a reason. What if we were brought together to stop this enemy?"

Her forehead creased. "Do you really believe that?"

I lightly knocked on the tabletop. "No." I took a sip of her milkshake. "Are we supposed to jump into a relationship now?"

She laughed in disbelief. "Not even close. You're cute and all, but I can't get into a guy that's in love with someone else."

I gave her a look.

Her hands raised in surrender. "What? You are. Besides, just because we feel like we knew each other from this other place doesn't mean we know each other now. You're not exactly my type."

My brow arched, a smirk worked on my lips. "I didn't hear any complaints the other night."

"Oh, I didn't have any." Her eyes ran over my body, then she sucked on her straw with a look of hunger in her chestnut eyes. Her red nails fingered the straw daringly.

My eyes narrowed. "Is that why you wanted me to come here? To sleep with me again?

"Not entirely." She grinned, her dimples popped out sexily. "But it seems like you could use a distraction."

"Are you offering?"

"What do you think?"

We stared at each other.

"Check!" I called for the waitress.

Once back inside my apartment, she yanked my shirt off, her hands ran down my chest and abs yearningly.

"Lose the pants." She instructed.

I unzipped them with a smirk, knowing that she wasn't going to like being submissive for once.

She bit her lip at the sight of my hard cock. Her hand wrapped around it and led me to the bedroom.

I followed willingly, but the moment we were in my room I slammed the door behind us, then ripped her shirt off, followed by her bra and shorts. "No panties again." I said in satisfaction.

Her brow rose at my actions, she pushed me down on the bed, then hovered her hot, wet pussy over my face. "Why don't you put that mouth to use, McCall."

My hands slid up her hips and took ahold of them so I could make her moan my name like I wanted to do since the other morning.

She braced my head board. "Oh my fucking God," She withered on my face. "Scott!"

Male pride filled me at her sounds of pleasure. My tongue worked her good, but I wanted more, so I flipped her over so I could suck on her pussy lips.

Her hands tugged at my hair when I flicked her clit back and forth with my tongue. Her eyes went back into her head. "God, you're so good at that."

Gratification filled my head. I had to make her cum like now. So I kissed my way up her beautiful body, my two middle fingers dove into her depths as my mouth sucked on her nipple.

"Uh!" She moved her hips along with my fingers.

I sped up my motions, my forehead laid against hers, our breaths mingled. "Say my name."

Her eyes gazed into mine. "Scott."

"Louder."

"Scott!"

I finger fucked her harder, her tight walls squeezed my fingers so hard. "Are you going to cum?"

She nodded, her hand on my bicep, the other pulled on her nipple.

I stopped my motions.

"No." She protested.

"Answer when I ask you a question." I moved my fingers inside her again. "Are you going to cum for me?"

"Ahh, yes!"

I stopped moving. "Yes what?"

Her eyes scanned mine, knowing what I was asking her to do, not just because I wanted to have great sex, but because I needed a little control in my life. If she did this, went against her instinct to be dominant, then she'd be doing me a solid.

"Yes sir."

I resumed my movements, my eyes glowed red. "Cum."

"Fuck!" She squeezed hard around my fingers as waves of pleasure crashed down on her.

Her eyes fanned across my face.

I pulled my fingers out, brought them to my mouth while I stayed connected to her gaze. Instead, I brought them down to her mouth. "Lick."

She sucked on her own juices.

"Good girl." I pulled my fingers out once they were clean.

She started to crawl towards the head of the bed.

My hand wrapped around her arm and pulled her back to throw her flat on the bed.

"Hmm," She moaned in delight. "What are you going to do to me now sir?" She put on an innocent voice when she was anything but.

I hovered over her.

Her hands went to my cock. "I haven't heard you moan once. Makes me feel like I'm losing my touch."

I bit back a groan. "You're definitely not." I loved the sight of her red nails on me.

She slapped the head of my cock against her clit and moaned loudly.

Needing to take control, I shoved inside of her with a lust filled growl. My eyes flared red with the urgency to dominate.

She immediately humped me back, her hands all over my chest.

My hands grabbed her wrists and held them above her head. I leaned forward to deepen my strokes.

"Scott..." Her eyes blazed blue. "You feel so good in me."

"Good." I slammed my hips into hers.

Her eyes closed. "Oh God, please don't stop!"

"Look at me."

She opened her eyes to gaze at me. "I see you, Scott." Her legs wrapped around my waist, opening her up to me even more.

Her words hit too close to home so I just stared at her while I pumped in and out of her. It was only when I tried to fuck my problems away that I realized that I was really messed up right now and I was taking it out on Malia. She didn't deserve that.

Those blue eyes searched my face, then my eyes carefully. She could tell what I realized. "It's okay. I need this, too."

Needing to get away from the intensity of her gaze my lips lowered to her neck to make her feel good. As my balls tightened my wrists tightened around hers. "I'm going to cum." I announced in her ear.

She bucked her hips. "You already know where I want it."

"Fuck." I stilled as I filled her with my seed.

"Oh my God." She cried out in orgasm.

Spent, we both laid there, my body on top of hers.

I let go of her wrists.

Her hands slid down my back. "We should do that more often."

"Too often and it can get confusing." I muttered.

She stayed silent.

I raised my head up to look at her. "Right?"

"I'm a big girl, I can have sex without getting attached."

I nodded. "Sure, but there's a little more going on here than just sex."

A teasing grin found her lips. "You sound like the confused one."

Was I?

When it came down to it, I'd pick Allison every time...but I couldn't deny that whatever I had with Malia because of these memories, this connection, something was there. Was that enough to want to start something with her? It could've been had I not just had my heart crushed by the love of my life. Had I not been in love with Allison...I don't know.

"Was this a mistake?" She pondered.

Our eyes met. We simply stared at each other in silence.

"I think that's our answer." She lightly pushed me off of her to get dressed.

"Malia, I-I'm sor-"

"Don't," She held a hand up. "Don't say you're sorry. We're both adults. We make mistakes."

I didn't know if I regretted it was the thing. I watched this crazy beautiful woman put her clothes back on to leave me and I didn't want that to be the case. That shouldn't have been the case, but it was.

"I'll see you tomorrow." She glanced my way.

I stood. "Where are you going to sleep?" I stepped into my jeans.

"I've got a place."

My head shook. "You don't have to go there. I've got a perfectly good bed that we could share."

"I don't think that's a good idea." She tucked her sandy brown highlighted hair behind her ear. "It would be confusing."

I didn't know what to say to make things better. This was my fault. I should've resisted her, should've told her I wasn't ready, should've done something that wouldn't have resulted in this sickening after guilt. Some part of me, a part that I didn't know, hated that there was a chance I had hurt her tonight or ever. That part was from another time and place where it loved her with everything it had. I wasn't there and I didn't know if I'd ever be or if I wanted to be.

With a huff, I sat at the foot of the bed and held my hand out. "Come here."

Surprisingly, she came to me and slid her hand into mine. Her eyes wondering.

"This connection that we have is going to confuse things for us moving forward. Obviously, those memories, those versions of us were from a different life, and I think we're going to get their lives mixed up with ours from time to time." My hand tightened around hers. "I don't know if we're supposed to end up together in this life. I barely know this you. I want to get to know you and I want you to get to know me. As friends."

Her brow arched. "Do you think you can handle that?" She joked.

I grinned. "I can handle that. Do you think you can handle that?" I teased back. "You can't call me for any more late night booty calls."

Her dimples deepened with her laughter. "No problem." She slid her hand down my face and playfully pushed my face back.

I grabbed her in amusement and brought her down to my lap.

Her eyes caught mine, question sat in her eyes as we stared at each other's mouths. Her hand rested on my shoulder while she stood and cleared her throat. "Do you want to go somewhere?"

My eyes narrowed. "If you mean back to the diner for another milkshake I have to decline."

Her eyes rolled. "No, not to the diner." She headed for my door. "Put your shirt on. Follow me."

We ended up at the greenhouse from the other night.

"What are we doing here?" I asked as I trailed behind her.

With her guitar in her hand, she sat on the floor. "I'm going to play for you."

"You brought me all the way out here to play me a song?"

She started to tune the strings. "I'm sorry. Were you going to go directly to sleep or stay up half the night worrying about everything?" She spoke from experience.

I sat across from her. "Okay. Play me something good."

She smirked. "It'll be better than good." Her eyes closed. She tucked the hair that dangled in her face behind her ear, then started to strum the strings in a way that held me captive.

The moments she started singing it felt like a whole was opening up in my chest for the werecoyote. The lyrics spoke to me in a way that I knew it had to be from this other life we shared.

I closed my eyes and let my mind find the fragments of memories it was begging to locate.

She was sitting on my bed in my clothes, with the sleeve pressed to her nose. I teased her about something, then leaned forward to kiss her. She grabbed my face to pull me closer. The amount of gratefulness and hope that sat in my chest brought unwarranted tears to my eyes. Then she played the same song. Our song.

When I opened my eyes she stared at me with the same intensity of how I was sure I stared at her.

"Did you see that?" She whispered.

My head gave a tiny nod.

"Did you feel that?" Her hand went to her lips in shock.

I nodded again, unaware of what to do.

This was the confusing part. But it wasn't like we could put space between us. We had to protect our friends and deep down we knew we had to protect each other. This connection was only going to get stronger with time, I was sure of it.

She offered the guitar to me, probably to have something else to focus on besides us. "Do you want to give it a try?"

I accepted it. The object felt foreign in my hands yet familiar, something I should've grown used to by now.

She came to my side. "Here," She positioned my hands around it properly. "Hold it like this."

My eyes met hers. "You're really going to teach me how to play the guitar?"

"Why not?" A dare in her voice. "It's therapeutic." She gave a hopeful smile. "It helped me through some dark times. I know it can help you."

It seemed a little late to start learning how to play an instrument, but maybe she was right. It couldn't hurt to try.

She taught me the basic chords and didn't get flustered when I didn't get them at first.

I gave a sheepish look. "I'm not really a fast learner, never have been."

She waved it off. "That's okay. I'm not in a rush."

I stared at her, wondering how I could suddenly feel strongly about her when I was still wrapped up into Allison. I looked at her knowing that I would feel things for her no matter what I felt for Allison. Those memories pushed them on me, but it was up to me if I wanted to feel them or not. So maybe I wasn't so closed off to the idea of being with her as I originally thought. That didn't take away from the fact that I had to heal from these old scars in my life before I even attempted to be with anyone else, Allison or not.

She nodded in approval. "That's good." Her eyes stopped on my face. "What?" She tried to read my eyes as I took in her beauty.

"You look really beautiful is all."

She stared at me, then looked down with a blush. "You're being confusing."

"I know." I looked down. "Sorry."

We nervously peeped back at each other, our hearts beating frantically.

Testingly, I inched forward with my lips ready to seek hers.

Her breath caught as she stilled.

Her breath became my own as my mouth hovered over hers. If I did this if I actually kissed her then wouldn't that be admitting we would end up together?

She sensed my hesitation and lowered her head. "Scott." Her voice of concern, full of knowing what our lives were, full of recognition.

I nodded.

This thing between came and went in waves. One minute I felt like I could handle this connection, I could handle not experiencing those feelings for her, then another minute feelings that weren't quite my own took me over and propelled me to do things like that.

"Scott!" A familiar voice called from nearby followed by coughing. I knew it, just not from this life.

Malia and I looked at each other in question.

"I know that voice." She muttered.

We got up. I pulled her out the door to the open roof. We peered down to the ground to find Theo, his hand held to his stomach. His face beaten almost beyond recognition.

"What the hell?" Malia said.

White hot anger fled me at the sight of him.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded. I jumped off the roof to land on the ground, the sidewalk cracked under my weight, and I grabbed a hold of him by the scruffs of his shirt. "What are you doing here? Huh?"

Malia jumped down after me. "Scott, let him go."

My fists flew into him as hard as I could manage.

"Scott!" Malia tried to grab my arms.

I looked back at her. "What?" I demanded.

Sympathy shined in her eyes. "Look at him. He's hurt badly."

My shoulders shrugged. "So."

"Someone did this to him." She reasoned.

My eyes narrowed at her. "He hurt you, Malia. Why are you trying to protect him?"

Her eyes shined with fresh tears. "Scott, I know him."

Theo looked as confused as I did.

Her eyes bored into mine. "Like I know you, I think. He was there in the other life."

"How does that excuse what he did now?"

"It doesn't but if we hurt him when he needs our help then who does that make us?"

"People that want to survive." I justified.

Her head shook. "Please, let me help him."

I knew what was doing. She wasn't one to ask for permission or take orders, she wanted me to think this was my idea if I okayed it so I'd side with her when the others heavily disagreed. I should've said no. I should've stomped Theo to death and threw her over my shoulder back to the safety of my apartment.

"Scott, please." She begged. "I don't think he was like this there."

My brow arched. "You don't _think_? Malia, I need you to be certain. Seeing as how we don't get all of our memories that's kind of hard to be."

She stood her ground. "If you don't help him you'll have to go through me to get to him."

I stared at her with hard eyes. "You're really doing this?"

She nodded. "I'm really doing this."

We gazed at each other in opposition. It felt surreal that we were having this disagreement and surreal that if felt that way after such a short amount of time between us.

My jaw clenched, then my gaze went to Theo. I crouched to get to his level. "If this is a trick I'll make sure you know what it feels like to have every bone in your body break, then I'll let you heal and break them again. If you hurt _her_ I'll kill you."

He stared at me with his one good eye.

"Do you understand?"

He continued to stare wordlessly.

My hand shot out to grip hard around his neck. "I said do you understand?"

He nodded.

"Scott." Malia warned.

My other hand raised to ward her off. "I just want to make sure we're clear here because if we're not it'll get bloody and I won't be sorry for any of it that gets on my hands."

He nodded again, his face even redder.

I let him go as I stood.

He gasped as much air in as he could.

Malia stared at me with eyes full of mixed emotions.

"What?"

"You don't have to be protective over me. I can take care of myself."

My arms folded across my chest. "Where are we taking him?" I ignored her statement.

She gave a slightly pissed laugh. "I figured he'd stay with you."

My head snapped towards hers. "With me? Why can't he stay at your treehouse?"

"My treehouse is barely big enough for two people. I don't have accommodations for someone as injured as he is."

"He doesn't have anywhere to go?" She pleaded.

"Fine," I gave in. "But if he's staying there so are you."

Her forehead creased. "I thought we agreed-"

"We'd just be sharing a bed. It doesn't have to get confusing."

It was a bed dammit. You sleep on it. Sure, we had sex on it, but it didn't have to be a big deal. It wasn't like she had a bed in the treehouse, I didn't think.

"Alright," She didn't have much of a choice. Either she did this or I did whatever I wanted to Theo because he deserved it.

We grabbed Theo's arms and helped his walk. One of his legs was broken I had to end up carrying him.

Malia snickered.

"Not a word."

"I didn't say anything." Her tone clearly amused.

I glanced at her.

She raised her hands in surrender while we walked back to my apartment. "I'm sleeping on the left side."

"No, you're not."

We bickered about it until I gave in.

"Fine fine fine," I groaned. "I just met you and you're already a pain in my ass."

She winked at me, then helped me get Theo set up on the couch. She showered first. I gave her a shirt, but she wanted my Lacrosse sweatshirt.

I tossed it to her. On her way to the bathroom I caught her smelling it and a smirk came to my face. When I came out from my shower she was on laying on her side with an adorable light snore. I carefully slid into bed as to not wake her up, I imagined she couldn't have gotten much rest in the last few days.

My eyes closed, but my mind was still awake.

She turned on her stomach and placed her hand on my chest in her sleep, a little sigh of relief escaped her. That hand burned me to my core right over top of my heart.

On instinct, my hand encased hers. My eyes closed once again and this time I found sleep easily.

A/N: Sorry for the wait. I made this chapter extra long for yall so please show your appreciation by leaving a comment or review or dming me your thoughts. I felt inclined to update this fic first rather than my other new Stydia AU because it had more reviews. If it continues to have more then I'll continue to update this more often.


	5. Howl

LIAM'S POV:

The last few days played in my mind on repeat. The conversation at Scott's apartment stuck in my mind more than anything.

 _Scott paced the floor. Every so often his eyes found mine and I could tell there was heavy guilt in them._

 _I sat between Lydia and Kira on the couch as I wrapped my mind around what he told me, what they all told me. I was a werewolf now. No part of me wanted to believe it, but after what I saw the other night and what I experienced this morning I knew it was true. Malia should be dead with all the bullets that were pumped into her. Scott should have his hand wrapped with a bandage from the knife that went through it, but it was perfectly healed. And I saw Kira control that electricity and Lydia take down men twice her size with her scream. Then there was this morning when I punched through that brick wall. That was not normal._

 _Stiles looked at me with wary eyes._

" _What if I don't want to be with you guys?" I voiced. What if I don't want to be with your pack?"_

" _You'll likely die." Kira spoke. "Lone wolves never last long on their own."_

 _Scott sighed. "What Kira is trying to say is that you're more likely to be hunted. It wouldn't be a good idea."_

 _My brow rose. "Hunted by what?"_

" _Hunters." Lydia muttered like it was obvious._

 _I looked at her._

 _Her green eyes gave me a look. "You'll be hunted by someone like Stiles, only they'll be a lot less understanding. They won't give you a chance to ask questions, they'll just kill you."_

 _My eyes widened. "Why? What if I didn't do anything?"_

" _Good luck convincing them of that." Stiles muttered. "Look, we go by a code. We hunt those who hunt us. There are a lot of families that firmly believe that."_

 _I leaned forward. "What do you believe in?"_

" _My family's code is a bit more lenient. We protect those who can not protect themselves." He said with pride._

 _I took that in._

" _If you don't want our help, that's okay." Scott moved forward. "But you can't say anything to anybody. And you'd need to be careful. You'd have to chain yourself up every full moon until you learned absolute control or you could kill people. Innocent people. Can you handle that?"_

 _Everyone's stare weighed me down._

 _My head shook. "No, I can't, but that doesn't mean I want to be in this either."_

" _How about you stay close to us until things die down with this Theo guy?" Lydia suggested. "After that decide if you want to stay or not."_

 _I looked to Kira, Stiles, then Scott. Finally, I nodded._

" _Great." Scott all but sighed in relief._

" _Under one condition," I looked at him. "When we find him next time I want to be the one to kill him."_

" _We don't kill, Liam."_

 _I shrugged. "It's his fault that that thing attacked me. It's his fault that you had to bite me to save my life. Either way, he has to pay for what he did."_

" _He's not wrong," Kira voiced._

 _Stiles nodded. "You see what happens when we're not all on the same page, Liam?" His tone sharp._

 _Scott's forehead creased. "What does that mean?"_

 _Stiles turned to him. "It means that if you had told me about last night I could've helped. But you didn't. You_ lied _to me again. And now Liam's a werewolf because of it."_

" _Are you seriously putting that on me? I was trying to protect you. Like I always do." Scott's irritation rose._

 _Stiles groaned. "How many times do I have to say it. We don't need your protection. We don't need you to lie to us. We need you to be honest."_

 _Scott stepped toward him. "You want to talk about honesty?" He looked at all of us. "You want them to all know about your dark period where you killed whatever you wanted because you were angry your mom died?"_

 _He stilled._

 _I glanced between Lydia and Kira, making sure that I wasn't the only one feeling awkward right now._

" _Or how you spent time in Eichen because you were a basket case after your dad died? I'm trying to protect you, Stiles! Not from them, but from yourself."_

 _His jaw clenched and unclenched, albeit not thrilled about all of that extremely personal information now public knowledge._

 _Their arguments only escalated from there._

 _Lydia stood between them, trying to be the mediator, but I didn't think it worked. Then Malia and Allison walked in and everything definitely went to shit._

Now I wasn't too keen on going back there, but as Kira pulled my covers off of me I didn't feel like I had a choice.

"Get up, already." She complained.

I pulled them back. "How did you even get in here? You need a key card and a key."

"You're seriously asking me that question?"

I pulled the covers over my head.

She huffed. "Fine, but you asked for this."

"Huh?"

Little jolts of electricity zapped me randomly until I jumped out of bed.

I frantically patted my body all over until it stopped. "Seriously, Kira?" I demanded.

She held a smirk on her face. "We'll be waiting in the car." She headed for the door.

My eyes rolled. I looked down at my slightly charred clothes. My head shook as I cursed under my breath.

I didn't have any classes until later so all I wanted to do was sleep in. Now it was impossible, so I might as well go there for whatever it is they had to talk about.

A few minutes later I slid into Lydia's backseat with an attitude.

Lydia looked back at me, then at Kira. "I told you not to do it."

She threw her hair over her shoulder. "He wasn't getting up and Lia said it was important."

Lydia looked back at me again. "Are you okay?"

I shrugged. "Does it matter?"

Kira turned around and took ahold of my cheek between her fingers. "Yes, it does matter. Did I hurt your feelings?" She squeezed in good nature.

I batted her hand away as Lydia laughed.

Kira poked at me, electricity crackled from the tips of her fingers.

"I'm going to bite your finger off." I threatened.

She surprised me by laughing, but she pulled away.

The mood in the car lifted. I wasn't sure if by the half apology she gave or if I felt comfortable around these girls, but I wasn't as pissed off as I was when I originally got into the car.

Once we parked and headed for Scott's apartment, they grabbed ahold of me, their arms draped over my shoulders. Much to my surprise, I didn't protest. Something about it felt natural. Something about all of this felt natural and that scared me.

We walked into his apartment with everything seemingly fine.

Then I saw him sitting on the couch. The guy that was responsible for ruining my life. For making me this way.

Theo.

My hand balled into a fist at my side and before I could stop myself, I lunged forward. My fists flew into his face to make him pay for what he did. The sight of his blood did nothing to diminish my anger.

Hands pulled me off of him. A growl came from Malia.

I growled back at her, then it died off once I saw Scott's red eyes glare into mine. They told me to not do it again. To not hit Theo again. To not disrespect Malia again.

He stepped forward, his hand on my shoulder. "We need to talk." He looked around. "All of us."

I glanced around at the wide-eyed glares of his friends, of his pack, to make sure I wasn't the only confused one.

"What's he doing here?" Allison's eyes shot daggers at Theo.

Malia stepped forward, her eyes went to Scott's briefly. "Theo came to us last night. He looked even worse then." She glanced back at him. "He came to us for a reason."

"Yeah," Kira stepped forward. "To spy on us."

I nodded.

"You guys seriously let him stay here without questioning him?" Lydia demanded. Her green eyes searched Malia's. Only being around Lydia for not even a full twenty-four hours, I knew she was the smartest person in the room without batting a lash.

Scott stood by Malia's side in a united front, but he didn't seem happy about it. "He could barely talk, let alone move. And we figured you'd all want to be here when we questioned him." His muscular arms folded across his broad chest. His dominance filled the room. Maybe that was why I was so attracted to him before. I mean, I still was, but I wasn't under any delusion we'd be together. Hell, I still didn't know if this was the life I wanted.

Stiles stepped forward. "He's had enough time to heal, so talk!" He demanded. He produced a Chinese ring dagger. "Or we make you talk."

Allison looked at him out of the corner of her eye, then back at Theo.

Lydia seemed impressed by his authority, even as a human.

My eyes rolled. Stiles was hot and all, but he had a streak of anger and distrust that followed him around. Maybe we weren't that much different, but in Stiles case, he was trained to be that way. It was in his blood. So what was in my blood?

"Who did this to you?" Malia looked down at Theo. "Why'd you come to us?"

He swallowed a lump in his throat, then peeked an eye at her. "Because you were the only ones that could help."

"Help you what?" Scott asked.

"Survive." He said as simply as that.

Malia and Scott exchanged a look.

Scott moved forward. "Who did this to you? Why?"

His forehead creased. "You really don't know?"

Scott's irritation flared, his hand shot out to wrap around Theo's throat. "Don't play games with us."

Malia's hand pulled on his until he dropped it. For her.

Theo coughed so hard his hand covered his mouth. When he dropped it blood splattered across the pale skin. His eyes met mine for a second before they went to Malia's. "I didn't kill Allison like I was told so he wanted to make an example out of me."

"Who?!" Kira demanded, fed up with the drawn out nature of this interrogation.

"Deucalion." His eyes went to the floor.

There was a shift in the room. Lydia, Kira, and Malia stilled.

Scott looked to her in confusion. "I thought you said you guys killed him?"

A bead of fear sat in her brown eyes as she looked at him. "I did."

Lydia shook her head. "No, you're lying."

"Why would I lie?" Theo asked, calmly.

"To throw us off!" Lydia exploded. "Deucalion can't be alive. We watched him die!"

Despite his situation, Theo held a tiny smirk on his face. "Well, I'm here to tell you that he's alive and well. And he's coming for all of you. All of us, I should say."

Lydia lunged for him with a scream.

Stiles intervened before she could hurt him. He pulled Lydia to him as she cried and smacked at his chest, but he didn't let her go. His eyes went to Malia's.

She nodded at him.

He nodded back as Lydia cried into him.

"Who's Deucalion?" I asked.

"Someone you don't want to meet." Kira said, she gave me a wary look, then met Scott's eyes. "I don't care what your code is when we find Deucalion I'm going to kill him and anyone that gets in my way." She turned on her heel and slammed the door behind her.

Malia went to Lydia's side and pulled her close.

"You can't," She cried into Malia's chest. "You can't let him touch her this time."

Malia nodded. "I won't." Her arms tightened around him. "I won't." Her eyes went to Scott's.

Obviously, we didn't know everything, but there was a lot to discuss. My eyes settled on Theo.

He felt my stare and met it. Oddly, he didn't look away. He just kept looking as if I hadn't attacked him only a few minutes earlier.

"What are you looking at?" I questioned.

"You." He spoke, his voice calm and curious.

Allison cleared her throat, then said. "Why did this Deucalion guy beat you up for not killing me? Was he trying to send a message?"

He looked at her. "He wanted you dead because you're important."

"Me?" She asked.

"To Malia."

They shared a look.

"We're friends, but what does that have to do with anything?" Malia asked.

Theo looked at her. "She's important to Scott. Scott's important to you. Therefore, Allison is important to you. Killing her was supposed to start a domino effect of you all coming for retaliation and walking right into an ambush where he could kill and take your power." He settled his gaze on Scott. "He wants your power, Scott."

"Wait a minute, how the hell does Deucalion know that?" Malia demanded. "He wouldn't risk exposing himself to watch us."

Theo sat back on the sofa. "You've got a mole." He said simply.

The room stilled.

"What?" Stiles asked.

Theo's eyes rolled. "Someone's feeding him intel. Has to be."

We all looked around at each other. I feared that they'd think it was me because I was new, but thankfully nobody went there.

"Which one of us is not here right now?" Stiles voiced.

Lydia's eyes narrowed at him. "You think it's Kira?"

He looked around. "Don't you think it's a little convenient she's gone? Let's not forget that she doesn't really like any of us. Not a hard stretch."

If Malia hadn't been holding her I don't think Stiles would've survived the next ten seconds.

She struggled against Malia's arms. "You don't know anything! You don't know Kira. You don't know any of us!"

"You're right, which is why it's easy for us to point the finger at Kira." He challenged.

"She would never work with him. Never." She struggled to remain calm.

"How are we supposed to believe that?"

Her patience snapped. "Because he raped her!"

That hung in the air.

Malia rushed her to the bathroom without meeting anyone's eyes.

Scott watched them go in worry.

Stiles turned to Theo. "When's he coming for us?"

He shrugged.

"You've got to know something." Allison mindlessly turned over one of Stiles' Emei piercers in her hands with expert precision. I don't think he really let anyone use his weapons besides her. "Because I'm betting Deucalion didn't let you go. You ran away before he could kill you."

Theo stiffened, then gave a wry laugh. "They said you were the smart one."

"Do you know who the mole is?" She stopped the piercer's spin and pointed it at him.

"No. They only ever spoke with Deucalion over the phone. It doesn't necessarily have to be someone you're close with. It could be someone who's trying to get into your life or someone who's simply watching."

"That could be anybody." I said.

Stiles turned to Allison. "What about that Isaac guy? How well do you know him?"

She gave him a look. "Are you kidding me? Just because a guy's interested in me he has to have ulterior motives?"

He stared at her. "That's not what I said."

"He's not the mole. It has to be somebody else." She defended.

Scott cleared his throat, his arms folded across his chest. "He's right. How well do you know Isaac?"

Her eyes rolled. "Oh my God. This is crazy. Isaac isn't the mole! How do we know it's not Heather?" Her annoyance directed at Stiles.

Stiles stilled, his mind worked it over. "She could be."

Scott shook his head. "No, it can't be Heather. This all started before she got here."

"That you know of." Allison argued. "She could've been watching us this entire time. He could've used her relationship with Stiles as her in on us."

He pulled out his phone.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Meeting with her. I have to know if it's her. I'll be able to tell now that I'm on the defensive. You should meet with Isaac in public. We'll watch over you two, make sure you're safe if anything happens."

Even though it wasn't meant to anger her, it did. And I could understand it. The double standard. Stiles was going probably going to meet up with Heather in private and yet he expected Allison to meet Isaac in full view of the public, insinuating she couldn't take care of herself. From what I've seen she knows how to handle weapons, but it's the sheer werewolf strength that throws her off.

"It's for your own safety, Allie." Scott agreed with him.

She nodded but didn't look happy about it. "Fine. I'll meet with him." She headed for the door.

"Don't forget to tell us when and where you're meeting him." Stiles reminded her on her way out the door.

Her jaw clenched, then the door shut behind her.

Stiles' phone vibrated. "It's Heather. She's going to come over to my place." He looked at Scott. "I'll let you know what I find out."

Scott nodded at him.

Stiles squeezed my shoulder on the way out the door.

I looked at the place where his hand had been, tingles lit up the area. I discreetly stared at his ass as he left.

"I'm going to go check on them." Scott said.

That left Theo and me alone.

Great.

His gaze felt heavy on my body.

"Why do you keep looking at me?" I demanded.

"You're a cute guy. I like cute guys."

My eyes snapped to his. "You tried to have us killed."

"No, I tried to have them killed. You were a casualty caught in the crosshairs. One that I tried to bargain for." He stood.

Even with his face busted up and obvious limp, I could tell he was way more powerful than I could imagine. It seeped from him. As he neared me I was aware that he towered over me.

"I saw you check out Stiles, I know you're into guys. The question is just how much are you into them?" Heavy suggestion rang in his tone.

I scoffed. "Are you really hitting on me right now? You are aware that I want to kill you, right?"

"All that means is that the sex will be hot." He reached out to touch the hair that dangled in my face.

My hand smacked his away. "You're out of your mind if you think I'd ever date someone like you."

He smirked. "That's sweet. You think I want to date you. Truth is, I just want to fuck you, Liam."

Well, you don't hear that every day.

I gave an incredulous laugh. "And why would I let you do that?"

His gaze went down to my pants. "Maybe because you got hard the second I stood up."

I backed away from him. "Once you heal all the way I'm going to kick your ass again."

His smirk came back and I had to admit it didn't look bad on him. "We'll see about that."

My eyes narrowed at him.

SCOTT'S POV:

When Malia rushed Lydia out of the apartment I knew that this was all very bad. Lydia had appeared to be the most level-headed of the three of them. The fact that she blew up at Stiles was enough to stress the importance of the situation.

I didn't have to look at Malia to tell that she wasn't okay. I could feel it and I wanted to eliminate the threat, but I didn't know enough to do anything.

Liam and I picked Theo's mind for any overlooked details before he wouldn't answer anymore.

"That can't be it." I pressed.

"That's all you're getting out of me." He relaxed back on the couch. "I'm tired. It's been a long day."

I groaned.

Obviously, I wasn't going to get anything out of him.

I looked at Liam and had an idea. Just because I couldn't get the information didn't mean Liam couldn't. I wasn't completely blind that I didn't notice the obvious tension between the two. Maybe it could be to our advantage.

"Liam," I nodded toward the door. "A word."

He followed, he shut the door behind us.

"I'm going to check on some things. I need you to stay here and watch Theo."

His eyes bugged out. "What? No."

"Liam," I pushed.

His head shook. "Nope. Not gonna happen."

My eyes tried to get his to meet mine. "I wouldn't ask you to do this if I didn't trust you."

"Scott, I've got class in an hour." He reasoned. "I need to get back to my life, not look at the very thing that changed it in the face."

I placed my hand on his shoulder. "What do you think happens if he leaves? What if this was a trick to get more intel on us? What do you think he'll do with that information?"

He shrugged, his gaze down.

"He'll use it against us. He'll use it against you."

He sighed. "So now I'm on babysitting duty? How is that fair?"

"What do you want?"

He grinned. "I want you to coach me. For Lacrosse. I barely made the team. Someone else dropped their spot at the last minute and I got it. Coach doesn't think I should be on the team. No one does. So I need you to help me get better."

That was it? I was expecting him to ask for a date. Not that I would've said yes.

I held out a hand. "Deal. Do this and I'll help you with Lacrosse."

We shook on it.

I slapped his back. "Thanks." I headed down the stairs.

On my way to the treehouse, my phone rang from my pocket. My dad's face appeared on the screen. I hit ignore.

He called again and I blocked him.

He needed to understand that when I said I needed time to forgive I meant on my time, not his. I shouldn't have to be sorry that my timeline didn't match his.

Before I could check on Malia, I had to meet Argent. He'd taken up hunting in Beacon Hills after Stiles' dad died last year. We needed all the help we could get.

STILES' POV:

With everything going on, I knew I needed to go talk to Allie. I didn't want this tension between the three of us anymore.

The desk aid let me in because they saw me here like every day.

I rode the elevator up to the appropriate floor. The hall seemed extra long, but I knocked on the door, not sure she'd answer even though I heard the TV on in the background.

A few moments later she did. She stood in the doorway in her pj's, her hair down with a look of distrust on her face.

"What do you want, Stiles?"

I took a step forward. "I wanted to talk."

Her arms folded across her chest protectively. "Now you want to talk?"

"Okay, I deserve that. Can I come in?" I glanced around at the underclassmen that happened to be in the hallway for this conversation.

Reluctantly, she pushed the door open for me to come inside her room.

I looked around, nothing changed since the last time I'd been here a few days ago to help her move in. Except there were like two empty boxes of tissues in the trash.

She sat on her bed with an expectant look.

A sigh left me. "Look, I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have said those things. You shouldn't have found out, not that way. I just said it to hurt Scott." My eyes searched hers. "The three of us, we've been rocky lately. Most of it is our own fault, but I can't help feel like that's exactly what someone like Deucalion wants."

"Now you're blaming this on Deucalion?" She asked incredulously.

Yeah, I guess I was.

"You need to grow up, Stiles. Start taking responsibility for your actions."

I nodded. I knew she was right. Still, it hurt to have her of all people say it.

"You're right." I nodded. "So I'm sorry. I shouldn't have outed Scott like that. That argument had nothing to do with you and everything to do with us. I need to talk to him."

She brought her legs up to her chest. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

I sat beside her. "I kept thinking Scott would, but he never did." I looked at her. "He really loves you."

"He lied to me." Her jaw clenched. "All this time I've been pushing him to go out with Malia. He never said a word."

"Can you blame him?" I defended. "Look how you reacted. You ran away."

She pointed to herself. "Don't turn this around on me. I didn't do anything wrong."

"Actually you did." I stood. "I may have broken Scott's trust, but you broke his heart when you walked out that door. Now you barely look at him. You're his best friend, Allie. He misses you."

She propped her chin on her knees. "I miss him, too. But I need space."

I nodded. "Do you have feelings for him?"

Her eyes widened. "What? No. He's like my brother."

"Okay, so be there for him like a sister would. Outside of the Deucalion stuff, he's still going through family stuff." I headed for the door, my hand closed around the doorknob, then I glanced back at her. "If I were Scott I know I would be worried you'd never look at me the same again." I opened the door and headed down the hall.

MALIA'S POV:

After I dropped Lydia off at her hotel room I needed to be alone. I went for a long hike through a trail by myself. Probably shouldn't have done that, but I dared anybody to mess with me right now. When that didn't work I made my way to my treehouse. I should've been with my sisters, but I couldn't right now. Right now I had to be in my own thoughts. I went to the only place I could be alone anymore. I sat in my treehouse, waiting for something to break through.

How was this happening again? How was Deucalion alive? The three of us had lived our lives for the past two years under the impression that he was long dead and that we were free. We wouldn't let any man ever tell us what we could and couldn't do, what we could and couldn't wear, what we could and couldn't say. We didn't like to talk about, but Deucalion really fucked us up. Maybe Kira more than the rest of us. I didn't go into detail about it with Scott because I didn't want him to think I was weak, that he had to tip toe around me or dote on me. If I wanted him to fuck me I wanted him to fuck me like he means it.

I heard footsteps approach my treehouse. Scott's scent filled the air and I relaxed.

He climbed up the stairs, then settled in beside me without a word. His eyes scanned the skyline with mine.

We sat in silence for awhile, a silence that I was okay with. Our feet dangled out the entrance as a cool night breeze wisped in the air.

A sigh left him. I knew he wasn't upset with me, but at the situation.

I knew the feeling.

My eyes ran over his face. His handsome face. He came to find me because he knew that I needed comfort. But I don't think I would've taken it from just anybody in that moment. A part of me that felt much bigger than myself knew that I needed him.

So my eyes went back out to the skyline as I rested my head on his shoulder.

He didn't still like I thought he would. Instead, he brought a reassuring arm around me.

Some time passed before he admitted, "My dad called again. I ignored it again."

"Do you think you're being a little too hard on him?"

His head shook. "Lia, I need you on my side."

A tiny grin came to my face. I liked when he called me that.

"I am on your side." I looked in his eyes. "It's just that you only have one parent left and with the ways things are looking you might want to forgive and forget sooner rather than later."

His forehead creased. "You think someone's going to die?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. But I do know that if something happens to your dad and you never got the chance to have a relationship with him it'll eat you up inside."

He looked at me with serious eyes as he considered it.

After a while, he said, "I guess I better get back. Liam's been with Theo all day. I can only imagine how well that went." He was about to climb down the steps when he turned to me. "When you're ready, come back to the apartment?"

I nodded.

He gave a half smile, then turned to jump down to the ground.

I pulled my phone out to call my dad. I needed to hear his voice.

He answered on the third ring. "Honey," He greeted cheerfully.

"Hey, dad." I sighed.

"Uh oh. I know that sound. It's a boy isn't it? Or a girl? I always liked that Michelle. You guys were cute together. And if it's a boy, then that's fine, too."

Well, he wasn't far off, but that's not what I called to talk to him about.

"Kind of, but this is serious. You need to listen to me."

"If this is about Deucalion, then I already know. Peter came by to get me last night. We're at the safe house."

My heart tugged. "Really?"

"Tell her I had it handled." Peter said from the background.

My eyes squeezed shut in appreciation for him. Like Scott said, Peter may be a lot of things, but he was still my birth father. He took care of things when he could. He wasn't perfect by any means, but he got along with Henry great.

"Honey, I'm sorry this is happening to you again. If I could help I would." He insisted.

My head shook. "No, dad. You can't. We've already talked about this. You've got to keep your head low. Peter'll protect you if he has to."

"Yeah, put those on the grill." He instructed. "Listen, as soon as Deucalion is taken care of you better get your ass back here for a weekend. I miss you, kiddo."

My eyes stung, but I refused to cry. "I miss you, too."

"Now about this boy, I know it's a boy. I can tell by your voice. Who is he? Do I have to talk to him?"

I gave a laugh. "What, with your shotgun?"

He laughed. "If I have to." He sighed. "Do I have to?"

"No, dad. It's complicated."

"What am I going to do with it's complicated? Give me some details." He asked excitedly.

I played with the floor. "Well, for starters he's in love with someone else." I lightly punched the wood.

"Ouch."

"Thanks." I laughed.

He joined me. "Do you think he has feelings for you?"

I shrugged even though he couldn't see it. "I don't know."

"Honey, if he's interested you know it."

A huff left me. "Yeah, I think he has feelings for me, but I don't think he wants to."

"Double ouch." He teased.  
"Dad." I chastised playfully, but couldn't keep the smile off my face.

His loud laughter rang in my ear. "How about this, you invite him over for Thanksgiving and I'll get a read on him? If he's any count he'll still be around by that time."

That wasn't a bad idea. Not for my dad to feel him out, but if Scott wasn't going to spend Thanksgiving with his dad if he even talked to him by then, why not offer for him to spend it with us? Then I thought better of it. Stiles or Allison would most likely offer. And he'd probably accept.

"Maybe." I said to appease my dad.

We talked for a while longer then I asked him to hand the phone to Peter.

"If you're asking to see if I'll save you some of this deer, you're sadly mistaken." He went on.

My eyes playfully rolled. "No, I just wanted to say thank you."

I could practically see his shrug.

"It wasn't a big deal. Henry and I were due for a men's trip anyway." He brushed it off.

"Peter," My voice softened. "Thank you." I hoped he got how much it meant to me.

He was silent on his end for a moment. "You're welcome."

"Talk to you later." I hung up.

When I was ready, I jumped down to head over to Scott's. All I wanted to do was go to bed.

SCOTT'S POV:

When I woke the next morning I noticed a hand on my chest and my hand wrapped around it. My eyes slid to Malia asleep next to me.

It felt good knowing that she wasn't sleeping in that treehouse anymore. It felt good knowing that she was safe. She was safe with me, as safe as I could keep her.

I slid from under her touch to shower to go to the gym. There was nothing worse than people that didn't know they needed to wash before stepping foot in one. And with my nose, I spelled everything.

When I got out she was still fast asleep. It wasn't like she hadn't seen me naked before, so I dropped my towel to step into my gym shorts and a black dri-fit Nike shirt.

She looked up at me as she stirred awake, a small smile on her face. Her hand ran over her eyes. "Did I miss the show? Where are you going?"

I reached over her to get my earbuds off the bedside dresser. "The gym." I looked down at her. "Do you want to come?"

Her eyes closed. "See you when you get back."

"No, come on." I tugged on the covers. "It'll give you a chance to work through the Deucalion stuff."

She peeked at me. "You just want me to see you all sweaty and grunting."

I smirked. "I don't need the gym for that."

She bit her lip. "No, you don't." She turned on her side, her back to me. "But I'm comfortable right here. I'm in love with your bed, McCall."

My eyes rolled. "Fine, I'll just get a milkshake afterward without you then."

"Doesn't that defeat the purpose of the gym?" She rolled over to face me.

I leaned down on my elbow. My face neared hers. "I don't think I have anything to worry about, do you?"

She grinned. "Someone wants their ego stroked." Her eyes ran down my body. "Or something else stroked."

I chuckled. "Whatever I have to do to get you out of bed."

Her brow arched. "You're the one that insisted I sleep on it." She raised up to face me. "If you're so afraid that I'll explode then why don't you do something about it?" Her eyes drifted to my mouth in hunger.

"If you go to the gym with me I'll consider it." I whispered.

She pushed me away playfully. "You're such a cocktease."

I laughed.

"Just give me a little bit of dick and I'll be good."

Shocked, I gave her a wide smile. "Malia, we agreed that we wouldn't-"

"You were serious about that?" She joked. She rolled out of bed. "Fine, let's go to the stupid gym." She pointed a finger at me. "But if I explode later know that you could've prevented it." Her eyes ran down my body. "Who's going to watch Theo?"

I readied to dial Liam's number. I knew he wouldn't be happy about it, but this was what being part of the pack entailed. To be honest, I didn't trust anyone else to watch him. And it wasn't like I wouldn't keep up my end of the deal.

Twenty minutes later we were at the on-campus gym. It was pretty decent. I liked to come here when things became too much with Stiles and Allison or when I could feel my wolf slipping. It's been happening a lot lately so I hit the gym a little harder than normal in the last few months.

Malia pinned her hair up into a ponytail while we neared the entrance. She gave me a look. "If I feel even one pair of eyes on my ass in there I'm bolting."

I looked down at the workout leggings she had and couldn't help that my eyes slid directly to her butt. She looked really good and she knew it.

"Nope," She turned around. "I'm not doing this."

I pulled her back to me. "Lia, if you end up killing someone then you know that I have to do something about it." My eyes gazed into hers. "And I don't want have to do that."

Her eyes narrowed. "That's a bit hypocritical, isn't it? You've threatened to kill Theo how many times?"

"That's different."

Her hand propped on her hip. "How exactly?"

I leaned closer. "For one, he threatened to kill Allison. And he hurt you."

"That's sweet and all, but if anyone threatens my sisters or Stiles and Allison," She closed the distance between us. "Or you I'll do what I have to." Her brow arched in intrigue. "You could try and stop me." Her hand patted my shoulder, then she headed inside the building.

With a sigh, I watched her disappear. Something pulled me forward to her, wanting me to be as close as I could be to her.

About midway through my workout, I noticed the male eyes on her and I didn't like it. Ignoring it didn't work. Giving her my jacket to put around her waist didn't help, she didn't even put it on. It was at the point that I couldn't even focus on my workout anymore.

One guy closest to me lifting free weights stared at her ass as she was doing deadlifts. His arousal at watching her bend over filled the air.

I couldn't help it, but a low growl escaped me.

He looked at me in question, but when he saw the hard look in my eyes and my clenched jaw he backed off and walked away.

I walked over to Malia, my hand grabbed the barbell to still her. "We're leaving."

She turned her brown eyes on me. "Already? You're not even sweating."

"Maybe the gym was a bad idea." I admitted.

It wasn't that I was such a neanderthal that I wanted Malia all to myself, it was just that I didn't want other guys disrespecting her. For their safety and my sanity, it was best we didn't come here to blow off steam again. I'd just have to bring her to the athlete's gym if I wanted to workout with her. Either that or learn that she wasn't mine to protect. I didn't like that option so athlete's gym it was.

She huffed. "Fine, but you're buying my milkshake."

I nodded. "Let's go." Alpha authority rang in my voice without it meaning to.

She stared at me, a teasing grin on her lips. "Anyone ever tell you that you're hot when you're angry?"

My eyes rolled.

She tugged on the strings of my basketball shorts. "Milkshakes. Let's go."

I hoped I knew what I was getting myself into.

Milkshakes usually led to sex with us. Maybe this time would be different.

We sat in our usual booth.

She ordered fries to go along with our milkshakes and when they came she dipped her fry into it.

I couldn't keep the disgust off my face. "What are you doing?"

She offered me an ice cream covered fry. "Want to try?"

My head shook.

She bit into it. "You have no idea what you're missing. Sweet and salty mixed together is amazing."

"I'll take your word for it." I popped a fry into my mouth. "About Theo, I don't want him staying at the apartment, especially with you there. It's too dangerous."

"Where the hell is he going to stay?" She asked. "No one else is going to let him stay with them. And this way we can keep an eye on him."

I nodded. "But I don't want him there if you're there. What if it _is_ a trick and he's just getting intel for Deucalion?"

She pointed a fry at me. "Which is why we need him close. Besides it's not like I'm living there."

"About that," I leaned forward on my elbows. "I want you to move in."

Her eyes narrowed. "What?"

"Move in with me." I suggested.

"Isn't it a little soon in our non-relationship?" She joked.

I gave her a look. "You're there all the time now anyway. If something happens to you in that treehouse I don't know what I'd do."

She fought her grin. "You like me, McCall?"

I held up a hand. "Let's not get carried away. I just don't want you to get hurt if there's anything I can do about it. And you're about the only thing stopping me from killing Theo."

Her eyes rolled. "That's true." She sighed. "Fine, I'll sleep in the guest room."

I leaned back as I snatched her milkshake from her and took a sip. "You'll sleep with me. Theo will stay in the guest room. He can't sleep on the couch forever."

Her brow arched while a teasing smirk sat on her lips. "You know, for someone that doesn't want to sleep with me you sure are making it easier for us to slip up." She reached for her shake.

My free arm stretched across the back of the booth to dodge her attempts at getting it back. "I never said that I didn't want to." My eyes stared into hers. "Why wouldn't I want to? You're beautiful. Smart. And pretty badass. It's just confusing is all."

We didn't have the same problem. She wasn't in love with one her best friends. She didn't have to worry about hurting that other person. And she probably didn't feel the same need to be close as I did. I worried that if I gave into it then I'd be asking for trouble.

She reached for my milkshake instead and took a sip. "Boundaries. If we're going to do this then we need to set boundaries. That way no one gets hurt."

I nodded. "Deal." I held out my hand.

She held out hers.

We shook on it and tingles danced up my arm. We stared at each other. The need to pull her close was so strong that if it weren't for this table in between us I would've done just that.

She pulled away first and I had to let her hand go.

"Now you can give me your Netflix password." She scratched at her cheek.

"I don't know about that." I teased.

She stared at me. "Have you seen _The 100_?"

I shook my head.

She held a mischievous gleam in her eyes.

What did I do?

MALIA'S POV:

This morning had been stressful with everything running through my mind. I hadn't read anything for my other classes besides African American Lit, which I was ahead in so I had no idea what was going on in any of them.

It was weird waking up in the same bed with Scott only because when I got ready as quietly as possible and had to leave I didn't want to leave his sleeping side. Our arrangement shouldn't have felt completely normal, but it did.

Now I stood here in the dining hall staring at a piece of chocolate cake. The last piece of chocolate cake. It seemed like my saving grace right now so I reached out for it.

Until another hand beat me to it. "Too slow, Lia."

"So gonna kill you." I turned to Scott.

He held the cake up. "Come on, we'll split it."

I pouted. "That was my cake."

"I'll make it up to you later." He brought his arm around my shoulders.

I grinned. "Okay."

He laughed. "Not like that."

"You're no fun." My free hand intertwined with the one hanging from my shoulder.

He didn't pull his fingers away like I worried he would. He only asked, "What's wrong with you?"

I groaned. "I think my period's coming."

He made a face. "Do you need anything?"

I nodded. "For you to give me that chocolate cake. And that's not a euphemism. At least not right now."

"Fine. But I want a foot rub when you get home."

I made a face. "I'd rather not."

He laughed. "Have you talked to Kira today? I'm a little worried about her."

"She's here. Don't expect her to warm up to you now that the cat's out of the bag. She doesn't know that Lydia told everyone that particular detail and we'd prefer it stay that way."

"Sure. Just let her know that we're not going to let anything happen to her."

He sighed. "That day she yelled at me for being mean to you she said I was like every other man that held a little bit of power. . .I had no idea that she went through that. I just thought she hated me for hurting you."

My hand squeezed his. "It's okay. You didn't know."

We headed to our usual table in the private room, crossing a few of his teammates on the way.

He got a lot of nods of approval.

"Damn, Scott. No wonder you don't hang out with us anymore." One of them said.

"Ignore them." He encouraged. "Lay off, guys." He told them.

"Bet you she likes it rough." One snickered, I could feel his eyes glued to my ass. "Shit, if he doesn't give it to her I will."

He stiffened beside me.

I stopped in my tracks. I calmly placed my food on a nearby table, glanced at Scott to let him know that I was about to hand his teammates ass to him, then walked toward the one that wanted to give it to me.

He gawked at me cockily. Sure he was hot, but being hot didn't excuse being a dick. "What? McCall not enough for you, sweetheart?"

I could feel plenty of eyes on us. If you were an athlete people were going to pay attention to you, which was exactly what I wanted.

My head shook. "You want to give it to me rough?" I put on a sexy voice that always worked for me, mock interest gleamed in my eyes as they ran up and down his body. "Whenever I see an athlete something happens to my body." I ran my finger down his chest. "I just get so wet." My mouth went to his ear. "And I need cock so bad." I breathed into his ear.

His arousal filled the air, along with a good amount of other people's. His hand went to my ass and squeezed. "Oh yeah? I think I can help you with that."

I mentally begged Scott not to step in.

I gave a dark chuckle. "Good." My hand grabbed his head and slammed it down on the salad station. I ripped his pants down, spread his legs, and bent him over with a strength he couldn't rival. "Is this what you want?" I made sure to carry my voice as I mimicked fucking him in the ass. "Is this rough enough for you?"

"Let me go you crazy bitch." His protests were futile.

Laughter outbroke amongst the dining hall. A few people got their phones out.

I let him stand, but didn't loosen my grip on his neck.

He took a swing at me to save face, but I expertly dodged it.

I kicked his legs from under him, my hand closed around his neck as he fell to the floor. I brought my mouth to his ear once again. "The next time you try to verbally harass a girl remember this moment. Bitch."

Someone shouted, "She called him a bitch!" Then laughter erupted.

His face completely red looked ready to cuss me out, but the two other teammates picked him up and chewed his ass out.

One of them died of laughter. "You got fucked by a girl, Donovan! That shit's never getting old."

I ignored the clapping and hollers of empowerment. They were nice, but I didn't need them. I knew who I was and I didn't need anyone's approval for it.

Scott fought his dimpled smile as he gazed at me with impressed brown eyes.

"Where's my fucking cake?" I demanded. I snatched up my food and marched into the smaller eating area.

Scott followed behind me. "I think I like you more on your period." He said for only my ears.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "I'm not on it yet."

"That was supposed to be a compliment."

My eyes softened so I could laugh. "Thanks."

We sat at the table with the others.

I looked around. "Where's Allison?"

"I think she's at the tutoring center." Stiles answered. "What happened out there?I was too lazy to get up to see."

"You'll see it on social media soon enough." Scott grinned.

My eyes went to Kira.

She barely looked at me.

Lydia gave me a hopeful grin.

I put my hand in the middle of the table, something we always did when any of us felt a little down.

Lydia's hand went over top of mine.

We looked at Kira in expectancy.

She rolled her eyes, but fought a grin as she placed her hand over ours. She zapped us with her electricity.

"Ow."

We laughed lightly. It was nice to see a smile on her face, something other than fear, disappointment, and sadness.

I took a few bites of my chocolate cake and moaned. "This is really good." I pointed down at it.

Stiles looked at it longingly.

"You wish, buddy." I nudged him.

He shook his head with a laugh.

I put another forkful into my mouth and noticed Scott's slight pout. I couldn't help but laugh. He looked so adorable...and by adorable I mean sexy as hell. Being the good friend I was, I gathered a decent amount on the fork and leaned across the table to feed it to him.

He ate the cake with a smirk.

When I sat back I felt their eyes on us, but I didn't care about their judgment.

He had a piece of chocolate on the side of his mouth so naturally, I leaned back over to wipe it away with my thumb, then brought it to my mouth. My eyes never left his.

"Oh my God," Stiles commented. "Dude!"

His eyes stayed on mine. "Shut up, Stiles."

"Sorry, I just wish a hot girl would feed me cake." He muttered.

"That could be arranged." Lydia flirted, but it was an empty threat.

Kira pursed her lips. "Hmm." She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. "You never share your food. Scott's dick must be huge."

Scott's mouth fell open.

Lydia died of laughter, her head fell on Kira's shoulder as they cackled.

"On that note, I'm leaving." Stiles stood. "I'm still trying to get a read on Heather. I'll text you later." He waved goodbye, then fled.

I couldn't help the laugh that bubbled from me.

"Kira," I chastised half-heartedly. "Not okay." I saw the knowing look on their faces. "But very accurate."

"Well, I never," Scott stood in mock anger. "I'm not going to sit here and continue to be objectified by the three of you. I'll see you at home."

Part of me, the woman's studies part, knew that I totally just participated in a double standard of objectifying the opposite sex so I should give myself a slap on the wrist. The other part, that knew Scott wasn't really upset just mildly embarrassed, knew that it was okay because he was my dude. Friend. My dude friend. That's what he was.

"Bye ladies." He sent me an amused look before he exited.

We erupted in laughter.

"Way to clear the table, Kira." Lydia teased. "I can't believe you said that."

"I can." She held her hands up. "It wasn't like we weren't all thinking it? Sexual tension like that means you've already hooked up and you want to do it again. We're going to pretend we're not hurt by your not telling us?"

Lydia looked at her nails. "Same."

My eyes rolled. "Sorry, I didn't know that I had to tell you every time I sex."

Kira leaned forward. "You don't, but you do when it's with someone we know very well. If Lydia had sex with Stiles wouldn't you want to know?"

Lydia looked at her. "I'm not having sex with Stiles."

"We know." She waved it off. "But you get the point. Anyway, it makes sense now. I didn't understand why he was so angry at you or why you were so protective of him. It's so gross it's actually kind of cute."

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" I questioned.

She nodded. "Gotta admit, Scott's not a bad guy. I've seen plenty of them and he doesn't come close."

Lydia propped an arm on her shoulder. "Look who's warming up to men again."

Kira rolled her eyes. "Oh, bite me."

Lydia modulated her voice to send a high pitched scream only Kira could hear.

She pressed her hand to her ear. "Ow." She pulled on her ear.

Pleased with herself, Lydia ate some of her fruit bowl. She looked to me. "Back to Scott, are you two like dating now?"

My eyes couldn't roll hard enough. "Not even close. Saying it's complicated wouldn't even crack the surface."

They didn't know about our memory flashes. No one knew. Until we figured them out I didn't plan on telling them. They'd think we were delusionally in love or something crazy. While I wasn't far from thinking that, I knew there was more to it. There had to be.

Once we parted ways I went to the tutoring center to talk to Allison. It felt strange not seeing her today. I just wanted to make sure everything was okay. Her days probably weren't looking as good as people thought. Having such a vital friendship change in your life was hard. I imagined she felt like she had no one to talk to about it. So I was going to offer my services and we'd get a training session. I always felt better once I punched something.

"Hey, Matt." I waved at him.

He beamed once he saw me. "Hey, didn't think you'd come around here again."

"Yeah, well, I'm looking for Allison. Is she in a private room or something?" I glanced around.

"Actually, she didn't show up today. I figured she was sick."

I pulled out my phone to text her. "Maybe." I looked back at him. "How'd things go with Erica?"

"Good. I think I've solidified my spot in the friend-zone." He gave a sheepish grin.

I sighed. "Not the friend-zone. Get out of there as fast as you can."

He shrugged. "Don't you think I've tried? I live in the friend-zone."

I planted my hands on the table to face him. "There's an easy fix. You just kiss her."

His head shook. "I-I can't do that."

"You will if you want to get out of that zone. You kiss her and she'd known exactly where you stand. If you don't then be prepared to keep second guessing everything she does or says. And I'm going to let you in on a little secret about girls, we like you tell us that you want us." I pointed to myself. "I'm all for women making the first move, but there's something about a guy telling you that he wants you and meaning it." I held a hand up to clarify. "But not in a pervy way."

His eyes widened. "How do I do that?"

"Tell her everything you like about her, maybe not everything, just the things you think she'll think are romantic. If she seems receptive to the idea, kiss her. Let her know that you want to kiss her and show her what kissing you feels like so she won't want to kiss anybody else." I stood up. "Those are the keys. Be careful with them, yeah?" I held my fist out.

He fist bumped me. "Yeah." He nodded in self-assurance. "I can do this." He stood. "I can do this."

"Matt," A blonde girl called. She was super hot and heading this way.

"That's Erica." He muttered as he waved at her.

"Woah." I whispered.

"Okay, I can't do this."

I looked to him. "To be honest, I don't think you can either. She's like super out of your league."

He gave me a look. "As if I didn't already know that." His jaw clenched.

I had an idea. "Go with it." I whispered as I brought his mouth to mine for a convincing kiss, then I pulled away and smacked him.

He stood there shocked beyond belief.

"If she's so damn special then don't bother texting me any more." I flipped my hair over my shoulder as I headed past Erica. "He's all yours."

She went to his side. "Are you okay?" She touched his face with obvious concern.

His eyes caught mine. He gave me a grateful look.

I nodded with a smile, then headed for the door.

Before my next class, I thought about going to Allie's dorm, but she hadn't texted me back yet so I figured she was asleep. If she really was sick then I'd just stop by the Student Union once I got out of my last class to get her some stuff. We'd watch some movies or something. It wasn't like I was going to get sick.

She hadn't texted back at all so I called Stiles.

"What's up, Werecoyote?" He answered.

I gave a slight grin. "Allison's been MIA today. Have you spoken to her? She's not answering my texts or calls."

"No, we haven't really spoken since the other day. That's my fault really." He sighed. "What I did, do you think I was wrong?"

I mentally backed out of the conversation. "Stiles, I don't want to be in the middle of that."

"You live with Scott. There's something going on between you two. You kind of already are in the middle of it."

He wasn't wrong.

"Fine," I started the walk back to Scott's apartment. "What I think is that the both of you were too cowardly to tell the girl you love how you feel. I get that maybe both of you wanted to not hurt the other's feelings, but look how that turned out. Even if there wasn't already tension between you and Scott because he kept things from you, you threw Allison into the mix, and things got even messier. And just so you know, Allison isn't a prize to be won. She's a human being. If she doesn't want to be with either of you then you have to respect that and move on."

He sighed again. "I know. What do you think I should do?"

My eyes went to the darkening sky briefly. "Maybe ask yourself if you tell Allison how you feel do you think it'll drive an even bigger wedge between the three of you?"

"Can you keep calling her? I have a feeling if she wants to talk to anybody it'd be you."

He paused. "Oh kay..." He dragged.

Men were so clueless. Stiles didn't even know that Allison liked him back. It was sad and cute at the same time.

"Alright, let me know if you get anything." I hung up.

I neared Scott's apartment a few minutes later. What I heard from the parking lot was enough to make me stop in my tracks.

"How long has she not been answering her phone?" A voice I wasn't familiar with demanded. "How long, Scott?" He yelled.

"Pretty much all day. One of my teammates said he saw her go somewhere with Isaac. It's him. He's gotta be the mole."

Rage coursed through me as I backtracked through the parking lot, then took off. If Deucalion wanted to fight dirty I'd show him dirty. Screw trying to be good, being good didn't get you anywhere. You had to take what you wanted without being sorry for it.

I was going to get Allison back if it was the last thing I did. Scott couldn't lose her, too.

Her scent was detectable, all I needed to do was find it.

SCOTT'S POV:

Argent tried tracking her phone, but the GPS was turned off.

He paced along the floor in worry. "What else do we know?"

"Just because her GPS is off doesn't mean you can't hack the phone and turn it on." Theo threw out from the couch.

I pointed at him as I looked at Argent. "He's right." I got out my phone to call Lydia. Once I told her our suspicions she was more than willing to do it.

"Is this Lydia smart enough to do the job?" Argent asked. "If not we're wasting time."

"Trust me, she could be in graduate school by now if she wanted to." I put my hands on the counter and sighed. "She's got this."

A few minutes later she called me back with the coordinates. "Do me a favor and leave Malia out of this one?" She asked.

My forehead crinkled. "She's not with me. I thought she was with you."

"No, she's not. If she's not with me or you then where is she?"

Uneasiness filled me. "Shit."

I looked at Theo. "She went after them."

"Knowing Malia, I'd said probably." He answered.

"Lydia, you and Kira have to stay back. We'll handle this."

"And sit here completely useless, I don't think so. If they have Malia and Allison we're getting them back." She hung up.

Liam bit into a slim jim. "What about him? We can't just leave him here. He's coming with us, right."

"No way, I'm not going back there. Deucalion will kill me for sure." Theo stood.

I looked to Liam.

He sighed. "You're going to make me babysit him again, aren't you?"

My head nodded.

"Fine." He didn't sound to happy about it.

I opened the front door to pear out of it with no sign of Malia. Thunder crackled in the sky followed by lightning. I could only imagine that Kira wasn't too happy when Lydia relayed the news.

I looked back at Argent. "Are you going to be the one to tell Stiles?"

Being a father, he wasn't unknowing about their feelings for each other.

He nodded behind me. "Looks like I won't have to."

Stiles stood in the open doorway in his hunting gear, dressed in all black from head to toe. His eyes were hard and his jaw clenched. His kunai knives slid from his sleeves. "Let's get her back."

"Malia's missing, too."

"She was on her way over here last I talked to her."

I silently cursed. So she had hurt the news and decided to go after Allison. Why was she so fearless?

I pushed out of the door in irritation. She'd end up getting herself killed if she didn't be careful.

We found the coordinates that Lydia gave us. We beat the girls there by a minute.

"It's just her phone." I muttered.

Stiles picked it up. "Now the question is did she drop it as a clue or did they chuck it to throw us off?" He tried to unlock the screen but the passwords were wrong. He handed it to Lydia.

She got in it no problem, looked at it, then handed it to Stiles.

We closed in around the screen.

He was about to look for any clues when he focused on the background. He swiped until there were only a few apps in the way of he picture, a picture of the two of them smiling at the camera. He stared at it hard.

My hand went to his shoulder. "We're going to get her back."

He cleared his throat then went to her messages. Nothing of importance popped out.

"Go to her notes." Kira suggested. "She might've left a clue there."

He went to her notes. Sure enough there was a message, just not for us.

 _Finish Girlboss. Go get hair dyed. Be brave and tell Stiles how you feel_

"Woah." I muttered.

He looked at me. "Did you know?"

I sighed. "It wasn't my place, Stiles."

Instead of blowing up like I thought he would he simply pocketed her phone and moved forward with a purpose.

My nose sniffed the air. "I can get her scent. It's closeby. They're closeby." I pointed in the direction Stiles marched in.

"Kira, you have to calm down." Lydia instructed. "Your lightning keeps following us. They'll know we're coming."

Her fists balled at her side. "Good."

Argent made a recon round with Stiles.

"Looks to be only a few in there, which means this is probably a trap. If they knew we were coming full force for them then why only have a few people."

Lydia stepped forward. "Unless this wasn't planned and Deucalion doesn't know about it. With Theo gone, someone could be trying to get in good with him."

Stiles produced his Kunai knives. "If they hurt her there won't be any pieces left of them to find."

My hand grabbed his. "Be smart about this. Don't let your emotions get in the way." My ears picked up Malia's voice.

"Allison," She whispered. "Come on, get up."

Allison sounded hazy. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to bring you back. It was Isaac that did this, wasn't it?" She pulled on what sounded like chains. "No no no, stay awake. Look at me. I'm getting you out of here."

"Dangerous..." Allison drifted in and out.

"What the hell did he give you?" Malia picked her up.

A gunshot went off.

I shot forward.

"Scott!"

I ignored them and ran for the entrance of what appeared to be a broken down distillery. Allison and Malia stood with their hands in the air as some guy that definitely wasn't Isaac held a gun at them. I charged him and he shot me before I could get close to do any damage.

"Scott," Malia warned. "Just be cool. We can figure this out." She cautiously stepped toward the guy.

Stiles barged in, weapons ready, bloodlust in his eyes. He threw one his knives at him.

The guy dodged it in time for it to fly past him. He aimed his gun at Stiles.

"No!" Allison cried out. "Don't shoot!" She fell to her knees, weakened by whatever drug he gave her that made her docile. "I'll let you take me if you don't hurt anybody else."

"You shouldn't have done that, kid." He said to Stiles.

Suddenly two guys appeared out of nowhere and raced for Stiles.

With the kidnapper's attention elsewhere, Malia lunged for Stiles knife and threw it at him. "Stiles."

He caught it.

The kidnapper growled, then shot Malia in the stomach.

Her hand went to her stomach.

Anger filled me, but I felt frozen in place.

"Leave her alone," Allison darted at him.

He raised his gun at her.

"Allie, no!" I tried to warn her off, but the shot was already made.

She stilled, her eyes went to Stiles'.

His focus on Allison earned him a few blows to the face. He fell to the ground under their hits.

Allison wobbled.

Everyone rushed in.

"Allison!" Her dad raced to her side.

Lydia gathered her in her arms, her hands applied pressure. "Go help Stiles." She instructed after a few more men came. "Go!"

Kira turned her glare on the kidnapper. She spoke something in Japanese, then whipped out her belt sword and charged for him, but another gun shot the sword from her hand. She snapped her head around to face him. She grabbed her sword and joined in on the fight.

My eyes met Malia's. She gestured to the kidnapper and sprinted forward.

I moved toward him, but someone wrapped a chain around my neck while another person injected me with wolfsbane. My body immediately felt the effects. My skin burned, my insides felt like they were bubbling, my strength left me as I crumbled to the floor.

He noticed her movement and shot another bullet in her leg.

She fell to the ground as she cried out in pain.

He shot her in her other leg.

"Leave her alone." I threatened breathlessly with the chain still around my neck, my head felt woozy.

He grinned back at me. "And what are you going to do about it if I don't?" He turned back to her to shoot her in the shoulder.

The second her screams filled my head rage ripped open in me and I felt my wolf claw its way to the surface. My eyes glowed red as I let out a warning growl.

His laughter echoed as he shot her other shoulder.

My hands pushed off the floor, I stood to my feet. Fur covered my whole body as the two guys backed up from me. I grabbed them and threw them against the far wall. They fell to the ground with thuds.

A bullet dug into my back.

I turned on the shooter, ready to sink my claws into him.

He took another shot as he backed away.

I yanked the gun from him, it clanked on the floor and slid to the corner.

"Wait," He held his hands up. "Let's talk about this." Fear shined in his eyes. "Deucalion wants her alive. I wasn't really going to kill her."

An Alpha's growl ripped from my throat. My claws raised in the air, then slashed out to cut through his chest.

He fell to the ground, his hands raised in front of him protectively.

"Scott," Malia called.

This piece of shit kidnapped Allie. He hurt Malia. Malia. Malia. He hurt her and now I was going to hurt him.

My rage flared. My claws tore into his body, his screams only egged me on more.

"Scott!" She yelled.

My claws slashed his throat. Momentary relief filled me. My eyes looked around at the only people left in here.

"Get her out of here!" Argent demanded of Stiles.

He raced her out with Lydia in tow.

Kira fell to Malia's side and started to dig to the bullets out. "It's going to be okay."

My eyes met Malia's. The shock on her face was enough to reel me back to reality. I looked down at my hands covered in blood. I killed someone. Someone that wasn't innocent, but I still killed someone. Shame washed over me.

The fur receeded and soon I was back to being human.

Argent took off his jacket to wrap around my waist, which wasn't going to do much.

"You weren't kidding about earlier." Kira muttered to her.

Malia ignored her to take the pants off the dead body in front of us. She handed them to me without a word.

I took them, afraid to look her in the eyes.

ALLISON'S POV:

The pain from my stomach was enough to make me want to pass out.

Lydia lightly patted my face. "Don't close your eyes." She went back to press her hands into the wound.

"It's okay." I muttered.

She looked down at me. "What? The bullet didn't hit anything important, there would be more blood if it did. You're going to make it. We just need to take it out and stitch you up."

What if I didn't make it? What would my dad do then?

"If I die tell him-"

"You're not going to die," She insisted angrily. "I'm a Banshee. And you're not dying today."

Pain shot up my body, I moaned in misery.

Scott's Alpha growl filled the building, only this was different. They were hurting him and Malia. Stiles slashed his knives and dodged out of the way of blows. I had to do something.

I moved to get up and winced from the motion.

Lydia's hand pushed me back down. "What do you think you're doing?"

"They need help," My eyes begged hers. "I'm fine."

A look of deep worry sat in her eyes as she looked at me. "Stiles!" Lydia called.

The shuffling of feet running filled the air.

Stiles appeared, blood dripped from a cut at his hairline. He sighed in relief when he laid his honey eyes on me.

"You came." I breathed out.

"Of course I came." He reached forward to pinch my chin between his thumb and finger as he inspected me. "Where is he? Where's Isaac? I'm going to kill him."

My head shook. "They took him. He didn't have a choice. They have his brother."

He looked at Lydia, then behind us at what was happening with Scott, then back at me.

"Get her out of her!" Argent demanded.

He scooped me up in his hands and headed for the exit with Lydia beside us.

My head rested on his chest. "Thank you, Stiles."

His eyes ran over my bruised face. "Anytime."

MALIA'S POV:

Stiles took Scott back to his apartment while the rest of us went back to her dad's hotel room. He performed minor surgery to get the bullet out while Stiles stitched her up. She'd been asleep for a while now and I couldn't be in there, so I waited outside for her to wake up after my shower.

Kira came out to lean against the balcony with me. "She's going to be alright. Are you?"

I nodded. "I'm just worried about Scott."

She looked forward. "You should go be with him then."

"I can't leave Allison alone."

"She's not alone." She nudged me.

My head shook.

It wasn't that I didn't want to see Scott, I did. But I knew that I wasn't who he needed to see right now and I couldn't see that with my own eyes. It would hurt too much. So I was going to wait until I could bring Allison.

A few hours later she woke up in a haze. We explained everything that happened. I told her what happened with Scott and she insisted on going to see him even when her dad and Stiles heavily disagreed. She should be resting more, but she shoved away their protests.

She looked at me. "Let's go."

We walked into his apartment. Well, she walked in, I sat outside on the steps.

"You shouldn't be here." He said once he saw her.

"I'll be fine. You on the other hand, what were you thinking, Scott?" She demanded.

"He was going to kill you guys." His voice remained quiet. "I don't know. I just snapped."

She sighed. "You can't carry around this anger with you. You need to forgive your dad, you need to forgive Peter so you can move on. You need to heal from your mom. I wish I could help you do that, but I don't think it's a good idea we hang out for a bit."

When he didn't say anything she told him goodbye, then headed for the door, she headed down the stairs.

I followed her. "You know, Scott might not be your favorite person in the world right now, but you don't have to treat him like this." I voiced.

Her brows raised. "I don't know how to act around him anymore. I don't want to lead him on but I also don't want to stop being his friend."

My hand rested on her shoulder. "He loves you, Allie. That much is obvious. You don't have to love him back to be there for him. He needs you right now."

"You don't get it, do you?" She stared into my face. "I wasn't the one he lost control over. It was you, Malia. Not me." She squeezed my shoulder. "He doesn't need me to heal, the sooner he realizes that the better. If Scott wants to be comforted by anyone it's you."

My head shook. "That's ridiculous."

"Is it? You saw him lose control like we all did. He only did that when you were hurt. Even if you both don't want to admit it you care about each other."

My eyes went to the ground. "Are you mad?"

"What?" She grinned. "Why would I be mad at my best friend for liking someone like you? Or you for liking him? Are you forgetting that I want you two to be together?"

I gave a sad smile. "I don't think that's such a good idea."

Her eyes saddened. "Well, if you ever want to talk about it I'm here."

I nodded. My arms pulled her to me for a hug. "I'm glad you're okay."

She hugged me back tightly. "And I'm glad you're okay." She pulled away. "I'll call you later."

"Okay."

I turned back to the apartment and headed for the conversation that needed to happen. The door closed behind me, then I made my way to his room.

He sat on the floor, his back against the bed. A distant look on his handsome face.

I sat beside him without a word. I faced forward, unsure if what to do or say. Allison seemed to think I was the person for the job, but I still had my doubts.

My hand moved for his.

His tightened around mine, he didn't look my way or say anything. He just held my hand.

I wanted to say something, anything to help him, but I didn't know what that was. So I stood to grab my guitar and sat in front of him.

His eyes locked onto mine.

My hands held the guitar in comfort. I always felt centered when I had in my hands. Now I wanted Scott to feel centered by it.

I played the first song he heard me sing what felt like so long ago now. _Unhinged_ felt like the perfect song for right now. It was my favorite song by Nick Jonas.

"Right now my head isn't screwed on right and I can't decide what I want." I continued to sing.

He watched me with a glimpse of life in his eyes since everything happened. That's what I wanted.

"When you close that door you'll see its unhinged. It's just like me."

I was really opening myself with this song and I hoped it paid off.

"I'm afraid to finding out that I might be right for you and that's one step closer to life with you. And that's not me. Right now my head isn't screwed on right. And I can't decide what I want." My eyes didn't leave his. "When you close that door you'll see its unhinged it's just like me." It was time to make myself vulnerable. "I ain't scared of my emotion but I'm afraid to let you see. Cuz I know if I stay open I won't be what you need. When you close that door you'll see. It's unhinged it's just like me. If you close that door you'll see you're unhinged you're just like me."

I sat there worry filled me that I revealed too much, that he'd push me away, that I just put my heart out on my sleeve to only get burned.

I placed the guitar to the side and let my eyes meet his. I expected him to say something or just continue to stay in his mind. Instead he reached for the guitar and looked at me expectantly.

A tiny smile found my lips. I reminded him of the chords he learned the other night and watched while he practiced. When I taught him a chord progression I hadn't expected to feel so fufilled. My mind went back to when he tried to apologize that horrible day, he said he knew that I wanted to work with kids and make an impression with music.

Once he got the hang of that he handed me back the guitar. "Can you play me something else?"

I nodded.

My hands had a mind of their own and played a song I never heard of. Words that I shouldn't know fell from my lips. Part of me freaked out, the other part the part that knew that this had to be about the other life wasn't freaked out at all.

The uncertainty in my voice must've tipped Scott off because he stilled.

"I remember when you were my only friend. Now I'm not sure you can feel like that again. I keep giving you up." I sung. "All the things that you said. Well, you seem to forget dance around in my head every night. And there's a battle within that I'll never win. Cause it's me that I'm up against. It's my heart versus common sense. Can I give you up? And my, you know my mind's made up this time. There's no goin' back to find what we had. And I know. There's no light here left to shine. There's no wrong where there's no right. So enough. I'm giving you up."

Emotion not quite my own flowed through me. Glimpses of me playing a guitar filled my mind. I stood in the rain, sadness around me. Scott rode past me on his motorcycle. I was protecting him from something, something that drove a wedge between us. There was so much pain that I choked on it.

"Malia," He grabbed the guitar from my hands.

My eyes found his as I blinked away the memories. "Did you see something?"

He nodded. "It wasn't good. It was lonely. Really lonely."

We looked at each other, the intensity of the memories between us. I didn't know what lead to those feelings in that other life, but whatever it was I hoped that it never made its way between us here.

He must've felt it too, because he reached out for my hand.

I held it out.

He took it and pulled me toward him.

I nestled in between his legs, my head rested on his shoulder with his arms wrapped around me. "I think I miss you. The other you." I muttered.

"I know what you mean."

I swallowed the knot in my throat. "What do you think happens when we remember everything, if we remember everything?"

His touch soothed my nerves. "I don't know. Whatever it is it can't be good."

I looked up at him.

He looked down at me. "Thank you."

My forehead crinkled. "What for?"

"For being here for me. I heard your conversation with Allison. If I were you I'd run the other way."

My head shook. "I don't scare that easily. You're going to have to do better if you want to get rid of me."

He gave a ghost of a smile.

"Besides I knew that wasn't really about me. That other part of you was probably worried about me."

He looked at me. "What if this part of me was worried about you?"

Uncertainty ebbed in me. "Were you worried about me?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I was." His hand ran over the mostly healed wounds. "I'm seeing more memories. This has happened before." He met my eyes. "You were shot in the leg in that other life and I lost it there, too."

Interesting.

"Was Allison shot, too? Was she okay?"

His head shook. "It wasn't Allison that was there with you. It was Kira."

"Well, I guess that's better being that she healed quicker." I reasoned. "Either way, I'm sorry that I was the reason that that happened to you. I shouldn't have gone after her by myself. I just didn't want anything to happen to her."

His eyes softened. "You like her."

I grinned. "What's not to like? I see why you're in love with her."

Contemplation sat in his dark eyes. He swallowed the lump in his throat. "I'm not so sure that I still am."

A budding smile played on my mouth.

"I mean, we're friends. I care about you. Obviously. I don't necessarily want to feel all of these things for you all at once, but I'm learning I don't have control over that."

I sat back to really look at him. "What do you want, Scott?"

"I want us to be friends, but I don't know if that's possible now. I don't think I have a choice in the matter."

I gave a wry grin. "What every girl wants to hear."

He realized what he said. "That's not what I meant."

My head nodded. "I know. We have to try though. I mean, this is crazy. We've barely known each other for two weeks and it feels like. . ."

"More," He supplied.

"So much more. That's not normal. That's not healthy. So maybe we need space."

His head shook. "I don't want space."

My gaze lowered to the floor. "I don't either, but what if it's for the best?"

His hand grabbed mine. "Look, I know that you're scared. So am I. But separating right now seems like a really bad idea."

I could feel it in my bones that he was right, but I didn't know what to do here. I didn't want to be in a love triangle with him and Allison. I didn't want to get my hopes up to have my heart crushed. That's where this was going right? You don't just fall out of love with someone overnight and into it with someone you barely know. Well, Scott knew some version of me.

"We have to try." I reasoned. "We can't let these memories dictate what we feel."

"I know what I feel, Lia." His forehead creased.

My eyes filled with disbelief. "Really? Because last week you couldn't stand the sight of me. And the only reason you don't still blame me is because of those damn memories." I stood, flustered. "So whatever you think you feel isn't real." My hand ran through my hair as I turned my back to him. Tears pricked at my eyes.

He rose and walked the distance to me, his warmth surrounded me. "That's what this all about? You think that I like you only because of the memories?"

I shrugged, but remained with my back to him.

He turned me to him. When he noticed the wetness on my cheeks he wiped it away.

"I don't even know why I'm crying." I dismissed as I turned away from him, not wanting him to see me cry.

He wouldn't let me get away that easily. Those soft brown eyes bore into mine. "Don't hide from me."

"I just, I like you. I think that's obvious. And it feels like you only like me, that we're even having a conversation right now is because of these memories."

He nodded. "Well, I'll let you know a secret." His head tilted forward. "The moment I saw you I knew there was something about you that I liked. When I heard you sing it made me feel something. And when we had sex it was amazing." He grinned.

I rolled my eyes with a laugh.

"So I'm going to call bullshit on your accusation." His hands fell to my hips and pulled me close. "Because I liked you even when I didn't want to. I liked you when I was sure that I was a hundred percent in love with Allison. And I like you right now even though you're being crazy irrational." He teased.

My mouth fell open. A little anger simmered in me. "How the hell do you think I'm being irrat-"

His mouth cut off my words.

The moment our lips touched my knees grew weak. His strong hands held me close to him. With this feather light kiss I felt tingles shoot through my entire body. My mind knew that I'd kissed these lips before, but my body didn't. Not in this lifetime.

I saw in my mind a kiss on his back porch. One in my car. Another as I stood in his house, he looked at me with foreign eyes, the pain in that kiss as we held each other made me jump away.

His eyes widened while he stared at me a little breathless. "I'm sorry. I probably shouldn't have done that."

My heart felt heavy, but I realized he didn't look the same way. "You didn't see that?"

"See what?"

I stepped forward. "You didn't see us kissing when you kissed me?"

His head shook. "No, I was a little busy kissing you."

My cheeks felt hot.

"What did you see?"

"I'm not sure." I thought about it. "But it was bad." Really, I didn't know what any of it meant. We only got bits and pieces. Moments. Deciphering it all would mean getting everything back.

"I should probably go." I voiced.

"No," He gestured to the bed. "Take it. I'll sleep on the couch."

My eyes narrowed. "It's your bed."

"Technically, it's our bed. And I'd rather sleep on couch while you sleep on the bed than I sleep on the bed while not knowing where you are. So take the bed." He turned for the door.

Guilt crashed down on me. "Scott,"

He waved it off. "It's fine."

A few hours went by of trying to calm my mind down to actually get some rest. Nothing worked. So I shot up and went to the living room.

He laid cramped up on the sofa with a tiny blanket over him, his back to me.

I went to him, my hand shook him awake. "Alejandro."

He turned over with creaked open eyes. "Did you call me Alejandro?"

My face scrunched up in confusion. "Yeah."

A sleepy sigh left him. "That's my middle name."

"Of course it is." How could I forget the time he called me Elizabeth.

He turned over to face me. "What's wrong?"

I crouched down to face him. "I can't sleep."

His adorably sleepy eyes ran over my face. "Why not?"

"Maybe because that bed's too big for one person. It is a California King after all."

"Feel free to jump on here with me." He wore a lazy grin.

My eyes rolled. I stood and reached out my hand for his.

He took it, but didn't rise. He pulled me down to him instead.

I fell ontop of him in surprise.

He laughed and wrapped a thick arm around me.

"This couch is not big enough for the both of us, McCall."

"Wanna bet?" He laid flat on his back, put an arm behind his head. This way we laid flat against each other.

I couldn't help the moan of complete comfort that filled me. My head laid against his chest. My hands rested under my head.

"Don't get any funny ideas." He muttered sleepily, his eyes closed.

My eyes danced across his face. "I wouldn't dream of it."

He made a small noise of amusement, then his other arm went to my back, effectively trapping me against him. He gave a tiny sigh, then drifted off back to sleep.

A few minutes more I stayed awake just watching him, wondering what my life would be like without him in it. I didn't like that possibility.

On instinct, I leaned up enough to lightly press my lips to his for a few seconds, then I laid my head back down against his chest. Finding sleep this time was easy, it practically pulled me under.


	6. Dynasty

BTW I'm getting tired of having to use Student Union every time so everyone knows what I'm talking about when I want to say the Stu or the Union. If you're not in college and don't know then the Student Union is a mixture between a small convenience store, a few places to eat, study, and play games. So moving forward if any of the characters say they're going to the Stu or the Union you know what I'm talking about. Sorry that was long-winded.

The song for this chapter is Miia - Dynasty. Check out Hu Anita's Scalia video to this song and Scalia & Stydia | Dynasty (with Kate) by XxxXDream on YouTube

SCOTT'S POV:

I stirred awake the next morning with a warm body flush against me. The warmth made me feel at ease and I didn't want it to go away. My eyes creaked open to find Malia on top of me fast asleep with her little snore. She seemed to so peaceful and I hated interrupt that, but my cock was extremely hard. Her warmth on it did nothing to calm it.

When she figured out that I lied I don't know what she'd do.

"Malia," I whispered.

She continued to snore.

"Malia," I shook her a bit.

She groaned in annoyance.

I fought a laugh, then decided if she didn't want to get up I'd just carry her to the bed. So I scooped up her dead weight and carried her to our room. It didn't escape me how easily it was to think of it as ours.

Her arms went behind my neck and when I laid her down they tightened their hold. "Hmm."

A grin came to my face. "Lia."

"Don't go." She opened her sleepy eyes.

"I've gotta go to practice. If I miss this one Coach will kill me."

She sat up with heavy eyes now fully awake and let me go. "Would it be so bad if you missed it?"

I knew what she was asking, but I still contemplated it. "You mean quit Lacrosse?"

"Would that be so crazy? You talk about it like it's a burden. There's no excitement in your voice. I know that you don't love it because I've seen how you treat things that you love and Lacrosse isn't one of them." She sat Indian style and leaned forward. "I may be overstepping bounds, but I care about you."

Pride filled my chest, but I felt anything but. My head lowered. "Lia, I can't afford this school without it."

She nodded. "I get that, but there are other options."

My shoulders shrugged. "Like what?"

"Like scholarships. Loans." She rose to her knees in the middle of the bed.

I went to her. "The semester's already started, Lia. It's a little too late for that."

The wheels started to churn in her head. She got a focused gleam in her chestnut eyes.

I moved forward to kneel on the bed, I leaned towards her, my hand cupped her cheek. "I appreciate you trying to look out for me, but I don't need to fix this. I'll finish up the semester with Lacrosse and figure something out next semester."

Her brow rose. "Scott,"

"Malia," I challenged.

Her eyes rolled. "Don't try and downplay this, McCall. I know-"

My lips tugged on hers to cut her off.

"Scott, don't-"

I kissed her again.

She pushed me away with a refrained smile.

I pulled her back. "Don't worry about it." I hugged her to me. "It'll be fine."

She didn't hug me back, just let me hold her like a limp noodle. "You're not taking me seriously."

A laugh bubbled out of me. "I am taking you seriously. While I think it's cute that you're worried about me, you don't need to be." I assured.

She huffed. "Whatever." She wiggled to be let free.

I let her go just enough so she thought she was free, then I dragged her back to keep her close.

An actual laugh escaped her. "Let me go, McCall."

I grinned. "What are you going to do about it if I don't?"

She stilled for a moment, her leg wrapped around my side and she flipped me over on the bed so that I was on my back.

I playfully shoved her off because I knew she could take it.

Her hands grabbed my shoulder and she body slammed me onto the floor.

The wind knocked out of me as my eyes gazed up at her laughing down at me.

"Don't underestimate me, Scott." She patted my head, the sauntered off to the bathroom.

I was about to tell her I needed to get in there, but I didn't think it would do any good. So I laid there and caught my breath. My gaze focused on the suitcase she had tucked away in the corner. I gave a tired grin.

MALIA'S POV:

I wanted to stay in bed all day and just watch Netflix, but I knew I had to go to classes. If I fell behind at the beginning it'd be hard to catch up with what was around the corner.

The girls and I met for breakfast at the dining hall. There wasn't much to laugh and giggle about. Our worry was on Allison. Our focus was on Deucalion and how we were all going to get out of this alive.

"Look," Kira started. "What happened to Allison shouldn't have been a surprise, yet we let it happen." She looked between Lydia and I. "We need to do better."

Lydia pointed at her. "How do you propose we do that? We thought our best was what we had. We were wrong."

My head shook. "We're not doing this. We're not second guessing ourselves. We know who we are. It's Allison that doesn't know who she is."

Kira's brows knitted together. "Woah, there. Aren't you two like scissor sisters or something?"

My middle finger popped out at her. "What I meant was she doesn't have the same power that we do. She can yield weapons okay, but what good is that if you don't have the power or confidence to do it?"

Lydia leaned forward. "What are you suggesting?"

I leaned forward on my elbows. "When Allie gets better we train her. Not like how the boys would train her. Our way. She doesn't know how to use her body as a weapon. We'll teach her. It'll be her only advantage against someone as strong as us."

They looked at each other.

Kira sighed. "Anything so she won't get hurt again."

We went to our morning classes, then headed to our African American Lit class. It was surreal being here. So much had happened since the last time we were all here. Scott and I became allies, a little more than allies, Allison was kidnapped, Theo was beaten to a pulp, Liam was turned, and we all sort formed our own pack. Momentarily.

I stood in the doorway while the girls went to their usual seats as the class filled up.

Scott entered alone. He met my eyes before he started up the stairs to his usual seat. No Stiles. No Allison. He smelled all sorts of bad; angry, sad, hurt.

Lydia and Kira gave me worried looks.

I waved them off, then climbed the stairs until I got to his row.

His eyes hadn't left mine from the moment I set foot on the first step. Those eyes asked me what I was doing. Was I making this declaration in front of all these people? Were we actually going to sit together in class?

When I lowered into the chair I think we both let go of a held in breath. I asked him with my eyes what was wrong.

His eyes waved it off.

Mine narrowed.

His rolled.

With closer inspection, I knew that stench. He had it a few times, mostly when his parents came up in topic. So that had to be it.

My hand reached out for his phone.

With reluctance, he pulled it from his pocket to hand it to me after he put in his password, which I already knew.

I went to his messages, tempted to go through all of them, especially when I saw he texted with Lydia, but I went to his conversation with his dad and read it.

Sperm Donor: Son, I know that you need space. I want to give it to you, but it's time that we talk about this face to face. I can drive down to your school. We can do dinner. What do you say?

Me: When I'm ready to talk I'll let you know.

Sperm Donor: I've let this go on long enough. Scott, I get that you're upset with me about what happened with your mother, but you don't know the whole story. Now let's talk this out like grown men.

Me: You want to talk about grown men? What kind of grown man leaves his wife and child without so much as a word? Father of the year.

Sperm Donor: Listen hear, you need to stop being so damn selfish. You weren't the only person that loved your mother. I've had enough of your attitude. If you want to act like a child then I'll treat you like a child. Your mother's house will go on sale first thing in the morning if you don't talk to me.

Me: You wouldn't do that.

Sperm Donor: Try me.

In the message bar was typed an unsent message: I hate you for leaving me. I hate that I still needed you. And I hate that you don't see how you messed me up. Dad.

My eyes snapped to his in understanding. I was about to say something when Dr. Wert entered the room. I gave him back his phone.

Scott's hand reached out for mine, his fingers laced with mine while he gazed forward.

Class went by in a blur. I think both of us had our mind's elsewhere.

His phone kept vibrating in his pocket so he turned it off.

"Are we bothering you, Mr. McCall?" Dr. Wert asked.

Dr. Wert was a pretty fair professor. He wasn't one to target students if he felt they weren't paying attention. He rarely acknowledged students that held whispered conversation we could all hear. For some reason, he chose Scott today.

Scott shook his head. "No, it's off now. Sorry."

He nodded and continued his lecture.

We walked hand in hand down the steps when class was dismissed.

"Scott," Dr. Wert called. "A word?"

He looked down at me with a nod, then walked over.

Kira and Lydia hooked their arms through mine and pulled me along.

"Ditching us for dick, Tate. I mean, I get it. I saw it," Kira gave a hint of a smile. "But don't put our sisterhood on the back burner."

"I'm not." I defended.

Lydia pursed her lips. "Actually, you kind of are. It's not like we expect all of us to be together at every moment, but it feels like you'd rather be with Scott nowadays than us."

I wasn't going to deny it.

"I do want to be with Scott more than you guys. Have you seen him?"

Lydia rolled her eyes.

Kira laughed.

I put my arms around their shoulders as we walked. "We see each other every day. What? Do you want me to tuck you ladies into bed at night?"

Kira winked at me. "I wouldn't mind."

I winked back. "Come on. Lydia, if you had Stiles or any other guy that you liked, wouldn't you want to make time for them?"

"Well, I don't. Any other time I wouldn't mind, but right now we have to focus on what's important. Boys aren't important if we're going to die."

My eyes rolled. "Scott's important to me and we're not going to die. Deucalion is the one that's going to die."

"So we keep saying, but when are we actually going to do it?" Lydia demanded.

"Once we know more information. So far we don't know where he's staying, who else he has spying on us, or what he really wants."

Kira held a finger up. "Correction. He wants to kill us."

"Technically, Theo never said he wanted us dead. He said he was coming for us."

She groaned. "Either way. There's three of us and one of him. We can take his little army of werewolves. None of them have the power we have."

My head shook. "We don't know that for sure. Theo was really strong when I first fought him. The second time, too."

"If Deucalion was the one that messed up Theo like that then maybe we shouldn't be so cocky." Lydia reasoned.

I scoffed. "I was born cocky."

We all stopped, we sensed the still in the air and looked back at Scott. He was on the phone with his dad arguing.

I turned back to the girls. "Um,"

Kira held up a hand. "Save it. Go be there for your man." She wiggled her hips.

My hand playfully pushed her back.

Lydia shook her head in amusement. "He's got a nice butt though," She surveyed him.

My gaze slid down his back to his ass in those jeans.

"That's not all he has." Kira grabbed Lydia's hand in laughter. "Alright, we're going to visit Allison. Give her the good news." They walked off. Kira threw a wave over her shoulder.

"Thanks for the invite," I called after.

Lydia turned around but kept walking. "Like you would've come anyway." She sent me a kiss.

I gave her the finger.

She laughed as she turned around.

With a sigh, I headed through the few students to get to Scott.

He hung up the phone with a huff, he saw me and relaxed.

A girl came up and grabbed his forearm. "Scott," She grinned. Her blonde hair bounced in loose curls.

He turned to her, a curious look in his eyes until a look of recognition fell on him. "Kenzie?"

She nodded with a grin.

He pulled her to him in a hug. Not just a hug, but a hug that wanted to get a person as close to you as possible.

She hugged him back with excitement.

"What are you doing here?" He asked as he pulled away.

"I go here now. I had to start a little late, but my professors were cool with it." She waved it off. "I was hoping I'd run into you. I was hoping I'd get to see you." Her grin held satisfaction.

He smiled at her, a smile I thought was reserved only for me. Then he turned it on me. "I want you to meet somebody." He gestured for me to come over.

I was by no means a petty girl or shy, but in this instance, I wanted to mark Scott's territory and run off at the same time. That was a feeling I hated.

Reluctantly, I walked over to them.

Her clear blue eyes fell on me in surprise. "Oh. Hi."

"Hi."

We stared at each other.

Scott put his hand on the small of her back and it about broke my heart. "This is Kenzie. Kenzie, Malia."

Her eyes assessed me with intrigue. She held out a hand. "Nice to meet you. How do you know Scott?"

I didn't even censor myself, I just said, "We sleep together."

His hand dropped as he stilled.

Her brow rose.

"How do you know Scott?" I asked.

"Family friends." She nodded. "And we used to sleep together."

Jealousy coursed through me along with bloodlust and hunger.

We stared at each other.

My emotions rose to the surface and before I could say something I'd probably regret Scott stepped in with, "Who wants to get lunch?"

We looked at him.

The three of us stood in the Stu as we looked at the menu. You could quite literally cut the tension in the air with a knife.

My arms folded across my chest to keep them from having a mind of their own.

"What's good here?" Kenzie looked to Scott.

"I usually get a turkey club." He leaned close to her.

"I'll get one of those then." She got out her wallet.

My eyes rolled.

"I'll get it, don't worry about it." He offered.

I turned my gaze on him. Oh really?

He met my eyes. "I'll just pay for all of it."

I made a noise of discontent. What I should've said was pay for whatever you want and walked off, but I didn't. I stood there beside him because no part of me wanted to leave them alone together.

The three of us sat at a round table as we ate our food with light conversation. I think Scott picked this table so he wouldn't have to pick a side to sit on. I picked at my chips, but my appetite wasn't really there anymore.

This Kenzie girl was beautiful, knowledgeable about Scott, and surprisingly cool. I hated her. And I hated myself for trashing this girl in my mind when she hadn't done anything, all over a boy.

She laughed. "Do you remember that?"

He nodded with an excited smile that I've never seen on him. "I thought my mom was going to kill us for sure."

I hadn't been paying attention to their conversation so I was lost.

He noticed the look on my face and supplied, "We..."

I nodded and didn't know how to respond so I got out my phone and texted Allison.

Me: 911

Allie: ?

Me: Scott 911.

Allie: ? I'm gonna call you.

Me: No! He would hear you. What do you know about a Kenzie?

Allie: KENZIE'S HERE?!

I was gonna throw up.

Me: How bad is it?

Allie: We need to talk

I internally cursed.

This was pure hell. So why was I still sitting here? Because I didn't want to give up Scott, not to this girl or any girl.

However, I stood.

They looked up at me.

Scott's eyes held curiosity. "Where are you going?"

I grabbed my bag. "To check on Allison." My eyes went to Kenzie's. "Nice to meet you." I headed for the door.

Scott followed me outside. "Malia."

I kept walking.

"Lia."

"It's fine, Scott." I kept on.

"Elizabeth!"

I turned around and folded my arms across my chest. "What?" I demanded.

He looked around at the students paying attention to us and walked closer. "Are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, you tell me."

"I'm fine."

He sighed. "That never means that you're fine."

I gave him a look. "Just back to Kenzie. I'm going to go check on Allie like I said I would." I gave him a final look then marched off in the appropriate direction with my head held high.

His sigh carried to me as I headed up the stone steps and away from him.

Once at Allie's, I recounted the whole thing to them.

Argent went for a walk with Stiles to give us time alone.

She gave a grossed out face as she laid on the bed. "I'm not one to hate on other girls, but I hate Kenzie."

Kira poked at her from beside her. "Is that because you liked Scott?"

I stared at her nervously. Because if she used to like Scott and was afraid to tell me I'd feel really bad. If some part of Allison did still have feelings for Scott then how could I continue whatever it was that we were doing? I didn't know how to explain it, but her friendship came to mean a lot to me in a short amount of time. Same with Stiles. Maybe it was my heart telling me that they meant a lot to me in that other life.

"I never liked Scott." She said, she met my eyes. "It's just whenever they were around each other I wanted to..." She gathered her words. "Vomit. I wanted to vomit." Her head nodded. "It was pretty bad."

Lydia laughed along with Kira, her head on Kira's legs. "She couldn't have been that bad."

"No, it wasn't her. It was Scott." Her eyes rolled. "It was like he threw everything he had into being with her and she only wanted to be with him for the sex. I watched them go through the same cycle ever since high school started, then her family moved in Senior year and I was so happy because she no longer had a hold on him. She wasn't a terrible person, really cool actually, she just had a magical pussy."

Kira burst out into laughter. "We'll see about that." She held her fingers up and wiggled her tongue between them.

Lydia rolled her eyes. "If you try to sleep with her I will kill you."

"Don't be jealous, Lyds." She teased.

I nodded at Kira. "She is hot."

She winked at me.

My head shook at her in mock annoyance.

Allison laughed, then held her stomach with a wince.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

She nodded. Her eyes looked into mine. "If Kenzie is here you have to do whatever it takes to make Scott forget her. She's a poison."

"That's a bit dramatic, don't you think, Al?" Lydia played with the ends of her strawberry blonde hair.

"If she gets involved with Scott she'll be involved with all of this. We can't let her put herself in danger." She grabbed my hand. "Do whatever you have to to get her out of the picture, Malia." Her hand tightened around mine.

I nodded. "Yeah, okay."

Kira grabbed the menu from the drawer by the bed. "Who wants food service? I'm buying."

The look on Allison's face had me worried. What was it about Kenzie that had Scott in such a trance? What was it about her that made her appeal as a threat to me? I knew plenty of girls liked Scott. I saw the looks he got in passing, but those were easy to ignore. Why wasn't she? Maybe because I knew that had been intimate before I was a factor.

A little after their food came Argent and Stiles came back to the room.

I shot up and met Stiles at the door, I nodded toward outside.

He followed me out.

We walked down to the steps to sit.

"What's up?"

I looked at the tired bags under his eyes and his paler than usual skin. "You look terrible."

He gave a tired laugh. "Thanks." His eyes ran over my face. "What's wrong?"

"I need a second opinion on something." I faced forward. "Scott and Kenzie. She's here now. Should I be worried?"

His silence spoke volumes.

I nodded. "It's that bad, huh?" My rage and sadness mixed swirled in me to produce angry tears that pricked at my eyes. "Allison wasn't over exaggerating."

His hand rested on top of mine on the edge of the step. "I don't know what's going to happen with them now that she's back, but I do know that Scott cares about you."

I scoffed. "What does that even mean?"

"It means that in the little time we've known you guys Scott has changed. You made him care for you. He likes you, so much that it overshadowed his love for Allison. He's protective of you, even though he doesn't need to be. He knows that you can handle yourself just fine without him, but he worries anyway. And in spite of who your birth father is, he wants to fight for you."

I looked at him with scared eyes.

"Did he take you to get milkshakes?"

My head nodded.

He cracked a tired grin. "That's what I thought." His hand squeezed mine. "It took him a long time to take me there. And Allison. He said it was a place where he could be someone else and yet himself. I think he went there a lot to work through his dad drama."

Dad drama.

The issue stuck in my mind. His dad drama. Maybe I couldn't fix his, but I could use mine to help him.

"You're a genius, Stiles." My lips pecked his cheek, then I rose. "Thank you."

He looked lost as he sat there. "Okay..."

"I've gotta go." I skipped down the stairs, then turned back. "Oh, and you can sleep now. She's okay."

His eyes went to the ground. "For now, but what about next time?"

"There isn't gonna be a next time." I said with conviction.

He nodded.

"You good?"

He nodded some more. "Yeah, go figure out your Scott stuff. I'll text you if I need you."

I gave a small smile, then went to my treehouse so I could calculate my next move. Finally, I gathered the courage to call Peter.

He answered after a few rings. "Two phone calls in two weeks. Careful or I might start to think you care."

My eyes rolled. "I need your help again."

"What can I do?"

To help Scott, I'd have to let go of some pride to do this. It might not work out, but I had to try.

"I need your money. A lot of it."

SCOTT'S POV:

"Good, but it can be better," I announced with my arms across my chest.

Liam panted toward me with his lacrosse stick behind his back. "I hate this."

My head shook. "No, you don't. You love it." In a way that I didn't anymore and I hope Liam's love for it never died out like mine had.

"I meant that I hate that I'm not great at this, not like you are."

I waved it off. "Being great at something will only take you so far. You need to be in love with it to succeed, Liam."

He eyed me over curiously. "And you don't? Love this, I mean?"

My shoulders shrugged even though I knew the answer. "Does it matter? It's putting me through school. And now that my mom's dead..." I paused to run through the course of events that lead up to her death and a burning hatred for Peter resurfaced. "I can't do the parent plus loan. And I'm damn sure not asking Raf. I'd rather drop out than accept his money."

He nodded, then placed the handle of the stick against the grass as he leaned against the net. "Scott, I get it. But this is a lot to take on on top of what's happening with Deucalion and your schoolwork, and me and Theo."

My brow arched. "You and Theo?" I teased.

His blue eyes rolled. "You know what I meant. If you can take one less stress off your plate why not do it?"

"Is this about you gunning for my position?" I joked.

He didn't seem amused.

I sighed. "Look, I can't just quit. If I do then I'll have let my team down and coach, and my mom. She loved to come up to see my games. If I quit it's one more thing I've lost with her."

He stared at me hard before he came to pull me in for a hug. "It'll get better."

I hugged him back, grateful for him in that moment because I had a feeling Malia didn't want to talk to me right now and Stiles was with Allison who didn't want to see me either. How'd I end up losing every important woman in my life in such a short period of time?

"Thank you," I muttered loud enough for him to hear.

My phone buzzed against my gym bag.

"Your dad's calling."

I pulled away to check that he was in fact calling. I proceeded to ignore it.

Liam huffed. "We've only known each other for a few days, but I feel like I know you well enough to say this, call your dad."

My forehead creased. "No."

He reached down and picked up my phone. "The longer you keep ignoring it the worse it'll get. And with crap we have to deal with at the moment, it might be nice to have something work out for you." He gestured to me. "I can smell that things aren't great in the Malia department, so maybe talk to your dad." He tossed the phone back before he walked away.

With a sigh, I stared at the missed called for several minutes until I forced myself to call him back. Maybe I'd never be ready to talk to my dad, but I wouldn't know if I didn't try. Right?

He answered on the first ring. "Scott?"

I nodded, then gathered my voice because he couldn't see that. "Yeah,"

"Are you okay?"

I nodded again because I didn't want him to know my life was in upheaval without him. It had been almost perfect last year, I felt like things were as good as they'd get, but now I felt so close to happiness yet so far away.

"Scott?"

My throat cleared. "Yeah, I'm good. I just...do you want to come down so we can talk."

"Tonight?"

A little annoyance rose. "You wanted to talk, didn't you?"

He probably nodded, too. "Yes, of course. Tonight works. How does seven sound?"

"I can do that." My foot tapped on the grass nervously. "Okay, see you then." I hung up.

It felt like I wanted to throw up. Talking to him for less than two minutes on the phone made me actually want to throw up. How was I going to do presumably an hour and a half with him in person in less than three hours?

Back at my apartment, I cleaned meticulously to pass the time.

Theo watched from the couch with a book. He kept commenting on how everything was already spotless because I wasn't messy. Neither was Malia. He barely had anything here to make a mess.

"You can see your face in that table, I think it's polished enough." He muttered as he turned a page.

Regardless, I wiped it until I felt like it was good enough. Or close to being good enough.

He set his feet on it. "Why don't you call Malia? That'll calm you down."

I glanced up at him, then transferred my energy to dusting the bookcase.

"Oh," He sounded intrigued. "I knew there was trouble in paradise. You two haven't had sex since I've been here and that's a long time with the both you looking like that and sharing a bed."

"Ever think maybe we don't want you creeping on us, Theo?"

"If I was fucking Malia I wouldn't care who heard. In fact, I'd make sure that everyone in a five-mile radius heard."

My focus landed on him, a bit of challenge rang in my voice. "But you're not. So stay out of it."

He chuckled, then held his hands up in a pitiful surrender. "Not trying to. I've got my eyes on something a little buffer and blue-eyed."

My eyes rolled. "If you hurt Liam I'll kill you."

"So you keep saying." He picked his book back up. "But I know you like my company."

"I barely notice you're here anymore." I went back to dusting.

"Sure you don't."

When it came time to get ready I tried on three different outfits until I settled on a white dress shirt and jeans.

I jogged down the steps after I locked the door.

"Where you headed, Agent McCall?"

I looked up to see Malia coming my way. "Hey," I said, unsure of where we stood after earlier.

She looked considerably less bothered and more open. "Hey yourself." She gestured to my clothing. "You've got dinner plans or something?" Her tone amused.

"Actually, yes." I blew out a nervous breath. "I don't know if I'm ready."

She stared at me with unreadable eyes. "You probably are." Her gaze slid to the slick asphalt.

I ran my hands over my jeans. "You're probably right. See you when I get back?"

"Sure." She said, but it wasn't very convincing.

Once arrived at the overly priced restaurant my nerves fully kicked in.

He was already at the table, his dark eyes scanned me, probably in disappointment, as he stood when I neared the table.

"Scott,"

My hand pulled the chair out. My eyes wouldn't meet his. "I'm here."

"Yes, thank you."

We sat.

I kept my gaze on the menu even though I wasn't hungry.

The waitress brought out our drinks. If alcohol would've affected me I would've gotten a drink that would aid in this soon to be monstrous dinner. However, I settled on a water. Besides, Coach would kill me if he saw me drinking anything else.

I undid a button to give me some more air.

"...going right now?"

My eyes finally met his and I wanted to run away from here as far as possible. "What?" I asked squeakily.

He leaned forward. "School. Life. Lacrosse. How are things going?"

I took a few sips of water to wet my throat.

My dad knew a lot of stuff about me, about my pack, but that didn't mean I wanted to let him in now or ever again. If I cared about him even a little bit and I lost him too then where would I be? Orphaned and massively vengeful. Then I wouldn't stop until Peter Hale was dead. I wouldn't stop until Deucalion was dead.

"Scott, are you okay? You don't look good."

A bead of sweat rolled down the side of my face, I wiped it away. I downed the rest of my water. I settled my gaze on him. "I don't want to be here. You know that I don't want to be here. I wasn't ready to see you again."

"There wasn't going to be a perfect time, you know that."

I gave a tiny shrug. "Maybe not, but you took away the choice. My house," I leaned forward. "Mom's house. You can not put it up for sale."

He nodded. "And I won't, as long as we continue to communicate. You're my son and I want to be in your life. I have to be."

The waitress neared our table. "Have you decided yet?"

My dad looked at me expectantly.

"I'm not hungry." I spoke without looking at her.

"Okay," He sighed, then placed an order. His eyes felt heavy on me. "You're really not going to eat?"

"I ate before I came." I hadn't, but I didn't want him to pay for anything for me.

He sat back in his chair and hailed the waitress back over to cancel his order and put in two plates of pumpkin pie. It was our favorite dessert before he left.

After she walked off, I said, "You didn't have to do that."

He nodded. "Tell me about yourself?" He asked as if this was our first time meeting. "How are Stiles and Allison?"

I wasn't sure, to be honest.

"They're good." I lied.

"Good. What about school? Is it okay easing back into it?"

Nothing was easy anymore, I wanted to say, but I didn't.

"I'm making it work."

He held a budding grin on his face. "And is a certain girl making it work for you?"

What could I say?

"So there is a girl?" He full on grinned.

I nodded. "It's complicated."

He gave a light chuckle "I remember those days. What she's like?"

No part of me wanted to tell him about Malia. No part of me wanted them to meet. I didn't want her dragged into his mess.

The waitress set down our pumpkins pies and glasses of milk.

As I looked at the pie and remembered what it represented I swallowed the lump of fear and love in my throat. I took a bite of the pie and let the memories of us play in my mind. There were better times with us. There were times when there was no doubt in my mind that he loved me and my mom.

My eyes met his. "Her name's Malia."

"What's she like?"

"Everything that I want," I said effortlessly.

His eyes widened a bit. "You love her?"

That was difficult to answer. There were other factors involved, so I couldn't answer with certainty.

"I don't know. Maybe. Maybe not. Life was life without her, but _with her_ life was more." I couldn't wait to get back to the apartment to be with her.

"Was?"

I shrugged. "Kenzie goes here now. She hung out with us earlier and I'm pretty sure Malia hates her. Maybe me, too."

He took a sip of his milk, then pointed at me. "That's good. That means she likes you a lot. Women don't get upset or jealous if they don't like you a lot."

"But she's jealous for nothing. I don't want to be with Kenzie, I want to be with her. I thought that was clear."

"When someone else's feelings are involved nothing is clear." He pointed out. "If you like her like you say you do then show her. Make it less complicated."

Like ask her out? I pictured asking her to be my girlfriend and her slapping me.

A grin came to my face. 'Be my girlfriend, Malia Tate. Just you and me. We'll figure out the rest later.' As long as she said yes in the end I didn't care what she did to me.

"I'll be in the stands at your first game if you let me." He offered.

I looked at him and I knew that he was trying. It was just about seventeen years late.

"I'm not sure I'm going to continue with Lacrosse next semester." I threw on the table.

He looked shocked. "Why not? You love Lacrosse. Always have."

My head shook. "Not anymore." I willed him to understand without me having to say it, that maybe he knew where I was coming from.

"But your mother would've wanted you to continue playing." He leaned forward with heavy disappointment in his brown eyes, eyes that mine took after. "You can't give up on your life son."

Something in me snapped. I thought he got it, but he didn't.

"I'm not your son." I stood. "You know, for a few minutes it felt like we could work this out, but you reminded me that you have no idea who I am."

He glanced around at the few intrigued dinner goers. "Because you wouldn't let me." He kept his voice calm.

My eyes stung with tears. "Who's fault is that?" I gave a final look, then turned away from him, from this place, and this unfixable relationship.

All I wanted to do was hold Malia. It was the only thought that held me together.

When I got back to the apartment I raced for our bedroom in pursuit of her soft, warm, and caring body. But her suitcase was gone. Her toothbrush was gone. She was gone. The only thing left was her guitar in the corner.

In her place was a note on the bed.

 _Scott,_

 _Things have progressed a little more than I've felt comfortable with. We both know that we need to slow things down. Today made me realize that we hardly worked on the friends part. I want to be your friend. That's it for now. As you can tell I've packed my bags. I'm staying with the girls for now. You can keep my guitar, use it. I'll see you around McCall._

 _Malia_

I read and reread the note over again until it sunk in. I read and reread the note over again until tears fell down my face.

My hand went for my phone. My thumb hovered over her contact info, my mind told me not to engage right now. So I called Stiles instead.

I told him what happened with my dad and Malia. He listened while he sat on the bed with me.

"Tell me about her." He coaxed.

"When we actually agree on things we're good together. More than good. We're in sync and I don't think I've ever had a connection like this to someone else."

He nudged me. "And it doesn't hurt that's she's a fox."

I nodded. "That she is." I nodded some more. "She can handle her shit and not be sorry about it and it's the most honest thing I've seen in anybody in a long time, you know. She just says and does whatever the hell she wants."

"She wants you, man."

"She had me." I gestured toward the note. "I don't understand what I did." I sighed. "I just miss her."

"Already? That's you feel?"

My shoulders shrugged. "I don't know. There's this connection that we have that's really complicated and it makes me feel like I know her from another time, that's it's okay to love her, and want something for us, but it's scary because I've known her inside less of a month. We're moved in together, arguing, and missing each other like it's the most natural thing in the world."

He nodded. "Maybe it is, if that's how you feel." He pointed at my chest. "Your feelings usually never let you down. Now I'm not saying go marry the girl, but if you feel like you're on an okay path why not fight for it?"

I sat up straight, my jaw clenched. "Do you want to know the scariest part of what you just said?"

He shook his head.

"The idea of marrying her doesn't scare me in the slightest, like at all. I can easily see a future for us."

He stared with wide eyes. "Woah, that's intense. I love Allie and even that is a bit much for me."

I nodded.

"So why do I get the feeling you're not telling me everything?"

I turned to him with the confession. "Because I'm not." And I told him everything, everything that made sense, even the things that didn't make sense, which was most of it.

"Wow." He huffed with the knowledge. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because it sounds crazy, Stiles. I sound crazy."

His head shook. "Not if you both feel it. Especially not if you both have the same memories. Why not go over there and tell her how you feel?"

I held up the note. "Because I know how she feels. She wants to be friends."

He looked uncomfortable.

"What is it?"

"Nothing...I just think there's more going on than that. If you don't want to talk to her then you won't figure it out. About Allison, I am so sorry, Scott. I was hurt and angry and fed up. That still didn't give me a reason to out you like that. I don't know how we let a girl come between us, but she firmly planted herself in our hearts."

I leaned against the headboard. "Because she's Allison."

He nodded. "Look, I won't tell her how I feel if it makes you feel any better."

My forehead creased. "Stiles, I'm not in your way. I don't want to be in your way. If you want to be with Allison just be with her."

"How can I be with her when I know it'll hurt you to see us together?"

"I still love Allie very much and if she felt the same way it might change things, but she doesn't. And even if she did there's still Malia. I can't forget about Malia." I muttered, my hand rested on my stomach with the constant sinking feeling.

He grabbed my hand. "Whatever happens I have your back." He assured. "We've got to start acting like a pack again."

I nodded. "Good luck with that."

"I'll get Allie to talk to you."

My head shook. "Don't. I want her to do it on her own terms. I don't want to be like my dad."

He squeezed my hand. "I know you don't want to hear this, but at least you still have a dad. I'd give anything to have mine back."

"Stiles, I-"

He held up a hand. "It's fine. Just don't throw away the possibility to have a relationship with yours. He's actually trying."

I nodded. "I know." I admitted.

When he left I tried to go to sleep, but it wouldn't come. Even if I had, Theo's return would've woke me. He shushed his company, then headed to his room.

Her spot felt ghostly; cold and empty and I wasn't even sure if she'd ever really been there.

The sound of Theo's bed springs bouncing and their groans drove me from the apartment with Malia's guitar in hand.

I ended up at the greenhouse. Now it felt much more comfortable than my apartment did. With it in my hands, I recalled the notes she taught me a few days prior. There wasn't confidence or certainty in my chords, but I still played them even though my heart felt like it was perpetually in my stomach.

My mind flickered to a time and place I grew accustomed to seeing, my other life.

 _I jumped back._

 _Malia laughed. "Someone's jumpy." She pouted. "Oh don't tell me you're nervous?"_

 _I made a face._

 _"Scott McCall, a big scaredy Alpha." She poked at me._

 _I smacked her hand away. "Stop."_

 _She laughed. "There's nothing to be nervous about. So what if hundreds of people are looking at you for fifteen seconds of your life. Screw them."_

 _I took in her modest red and tan lace dress. It was low cut enough that I could envision her chest, but I wasn't going there nor did I need to envision them. I've seen her naked more times than I should've, but she was one hundred percent comfortable with her body. The lacey fabric fit her torso just right, then fanned out slightly above her knees. The black pumps she wore accentuated her long legs. Even the ugly robe and cap complimented her skin tone. She wore dangly gold earrings that made her eyes pop. Her hair was down like usual but styled in a different curl. Red lipstick covered her lips, black eyeliner covered her eyes along with some shimmery eyeshadow. She smelled of honey and flowers._

 _"You look beautiful," I told her. "As always." Her gaze made me nervous again. "You always look beautiful."_

 _She grinned as she stepped closer to me, her hand fixed my burgundy tie. "Well, you look very handsome. As always," Her eyes stared into mine. "You always look handsome." She teased._

 _I wore a simple black dress shirt with tan slacks and black loafers. I didn't try to look that nice, but looking at her now I wish I did._

 _Her brow rose in amusement. "We're matching."_

 _I assessed us both to find she was right. That made me smile._

I gasped when I got out of it. We only ever got vague flashes and moments. Never a full memory. We were graduating there. She seemed almost modest there. Odd. I'd never think of Malia as modest.

A while more I practiced, but I didn't get any more memories.

The next day I held up in my room. Not ready to tackle the world or my friends or my teammates. I turned my phone off and the only time I turned it back on was because Liam stopped by to tell me that Coach wanted to talk to me.

When I called him he told me to get down to his office.

I knew that this was about my missed practices and lack of effort in the ones I went to. So when he yelled at me to get my act together I wasn't surprised.

"Your spot on the team was locked down at the beginning of the semester. Now not so much, McCall." He glared at me. "Do you even want this?"

My silence was enough answer.

He sighed.

"I need it to be here, Coach."

"Well, I'm not so sure you even want to be here."

He had a point.

I shrugged. "Where else am I going to go?"

He sighed again, then turned to his desktop computer and typed away until he found what he was looking for. "I'm only doing this because I like you. You're a good kid unlike some of these heathens we let on the field." He printed out a few pages. "I hate to see you go, but I can only imagine what you're going through." He handed me a folder of papers.

I opened it. Inside were my unofficial transcripts, the necessary paperwork to drop Lacrosse, and the solution to my financial situation. Only it wasn't a situation anymore. Someone had paid for both of my semesters in full. The only people that knew about my wanting to quit was Liam, my dad, and Malia. Liam wouldn't have done this. And my dad sure as hell wasn't going to do it after last night. So that left Malia.

MALIA'S POV:

Going through the motions felt like running through water. I wanted to sped things up, but my surroundings held me back.

Kira held my hand while Lydia held the other.

"You made the right decision," Kira kissed my cheek. "Now we can get back to the sisterhood."

"Not a good time to be pushing pamphlets." Lydia chastised. "Can't you see she misses him?"

They went back and forth as we left the dining hall, but their bickering faded in the background.

I stopped in place when I saw Stiles.

He headed my way.

"Not right not, Stilinski." Kira's hold on me tightened.

Lydia pulled her along.

Stiles silently thanked her.

Her hand squeezed his shoulder in passing.

That left us alone.

My hands slid into my shorts pockets. "What's going on?"

His brow arched while his mouth set into nothing shy of a scowl.

I took a step forward. "Come on, Stiles. Are you really mad at me?"

"I'm not talking to you."

I sighed. I wanted to tell him that he did talk to me by telling me he wasn't talking to me, but instead, I said, "Is this about Scott?"

"What do you think?"

"Did he tell you to come here?"

His head shook. "He practically begged me not to."

"You're still here."

He stepped forward in haste. "That's because I know what we talked about. How could you do that to him?"

"I don't think any of this is your business, Stiles."

His golden eyes widened. "It is when my best friend is involved. You wrote him that letter. Why?"

My arms folded across my chest. "Because it needed to happen. Who were we kidding? Scott and I pushed things too far."

He gave a sardonic laugh. "I think you actually believe what you're saying."

I didn't say anything.

"He told me about your memories, about the other version of you guys. That you both feel what they feel sometimes. If that's the case then how do you not know that he needed you last night?"

Worry etched across my face. "What?

"His dinner didn't go so well."

My eyes rolled. "Am I supposed to feel sorry about that?"

He looked taken aback. "You should considering he told him about you."

"Sorry, what are you talking about?"

"His dinner with his dad last night. What are you talking about?"

I backed up. "I thought he was having dinner with Kenzie."

His head shook. "Why would you think that?"

I don't know. I was an idiot.

"Whatever. You said you'd be his friend, so go be it."

Normally, I'd push kick Stiles down the sidewalk, but I knew he was coming from a place of concern. So I nodded.

He walked around me and headed for the other direction.

"Stiles?"

He turned back around.

"Thanks."

He nodded with a half smile.

I toughened up and started for Scott's apartment.

Theo answered before I could knock. "Thank God, you're here." He pulled me in. "It's been tragic without you." He tugged me along. "He's in the shower. I'll be in my room."

Being here now felt awkward and foreign. It had been less than a day and yet it felt like a stranger's home. Maybe it was. Maybe Scott and I didn't know each other as well as we once thought.

I went to his room to sit on the bed, but I immediately shot off it to stand. Naturally, I paced and fidgeted until he came out dressed in sweats and a dark-sleeved shirt. His dark hair looked slick to the touch with water dripping through it. He looked so solemn and so handsome. His body wash clung to his skin in the most divine way.

He stood still when he saw me.

"Hey,"

He looked at me hard. "Hey,"

I moved forward a step. "I came to tal if you want."

He turned away from me, opened a drawer, then held the letter in his hand. "This said it all."

I didn't want to look at it.

"Stiles told me what happened last night. I didn't know."

"Would you have stayed if you had?"

My shoulder shrugged. "I'm not sure." I took another step forward. "I thought you were going to dinner with Kenzie."

He stepped forward with intense brown eyes. "I would never go out on a date with Kenzie or any other girl for that matter."

"Why not?"

His gaze deepened. "How about because I like you." He stepped closer. "And I like what we have, even when it's confusing." He sighed, then reached for a folder and handed it to me.

"What is this?"

"Open it."

I scanned over the papers, then sat on the edge of the bed with a range of emotions in me.

"Do you want to explain how that money got in my student account and took care of my tuition for the year?"

"Divine move?"

He groaned. "Malia, I told you not to get involved. This wasn't yours to worry about."

"Excuse me for caring about your happiness and sanity." I stood. "Excuse me for caring about you."

His head shook. "That's not the point and you know it. How'd you get this money? I know you didn't have it laying around."

I handed him the folder. "It was a favor from a friend. Nothing you need to worry about. Now you don't have to play Lacrosse anymore." I went for a lighter tone to get his mind off the obvious.

"Who's money is it?"

I thought about lying, but he'd know in a heartbeat.

"Malia?"

"Fine," I huffed. "It's Peter's. His money is the reason you don't have to play."

His eyes closed.

I could see him trying to calm himself down.

"Get out." He muttered.

I froze. "Excuse me?"

His eyes flew open, nothing short of rage filled them. "I said get out."

My head shook. "No, I'm not leaving."

"You did last night. What's so hard about doing it again?"

"Scott, I'm sorry-"

"No, you're not." He interrupted. "You said you wanted to focus on being friends because we didn't know each other. I hadn't realized how right you were until now." He stepped closer. "Because if you were really my friend you would've never done this. I'd rather drop out of college than let that man pay for it."

My annoyance rose. "That man is my father."

"And he's the reason my mom is dead."

My jaw clenched. "You know what, I'm so sick you blaming someone else for your problems. Peter didn't kill your mom. He wasn't even nearby. So stop being a little boy and man up about your shit so we can move on with our lives."

He rushed forward to grab my face and smash his lips against mine.

My rantings died off with his tongue in my mouth, dominating me with that muscle. My hands went for his sweatpants and dove inside to stroke him.

His mouth went to trail kisses down my jaw and neck.

I moaned as he produced a claw and ran it down the front of my shirt. Today I wore a simple black bra, but his eyes still feasted on it like it was the finest lingerie.

He slid a rough hand down into my shorts, his thick fingers dove into the wetness that pooled the moment I saw him.

My eyes squeezed shut in pleasure. "What about the money?"

He pulled his fingers out.

My eyes opened in protest.

"We're going to have to do something about that." Sex dripped from his voice, he put those fingers in his mouth and groaned.

I arched my eyebrow. "What'd you have in mind?" At this point I was down for anything as long as he put something back in me.

He turned me around abruptly, tore my shorts down and my bra off, then pushed me face forward into the mattress with my ass in the air.

"What are you doin-"

His hand smacked against my cheeks.

Stunned, I stilled. Even more stunned, I moaned a consent.

Each cheek got a smack to even out the rush of blood in the area.

"When I tell you to do something I expect you to do it." His voice held authority even with his Alpha status. He wanted to play our sex game. It put him in control of everything and me submissive.

Would I have gone along with this had it been somebody else? Hell no. But with Scott it was different. He could help me. With each blow my pussy clenched.

His hand slapped even harder. "I said when I tell you to do something I expect you to do it. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good."

I wiggled my ass in the air. "Please."

He rubbed his hands over my red cheeks. "Please what?"

"Please fuck me."

He slapped my ass once more. "Please fuck me what?"

I cried out in pain. "Please fuck me, sir."

He took his clothes off and lined the head of his cock up at my entrance, then he leaned forward until his mouth was at my ear. "I don't think you've learned your lesson yet."

My ass wiggled, trying to get some friction to ease my horniness. "I have, sir. I promise."

"I've got a better idea," His breath in my ear made me want to flip him over and ride his cock until we were both screaming. We both knew I could do it. But this game was way more fun.

He grabbed onto my ass then dove mouth first into my dripping wet pussy. He flicked his tongue and licked and sucked like he was a dying man of hunger and I was the only one that could feed him.

"Holy shit." I tried to be quiet because I knew Theo was in his room, but I didn't think he didn't already know what we were up to. "God, I forgot how good you were at that."

So good that I was about to cum.

"Ah, please don't stop."

He pulled his mouth away to slid his fingers in. "You're not going to cum are you?"

My hips wiggled to get more of his fingers. "No, sir."

"Are you sure?"

I nodded even though I was a second away from cumming all over his fingers.

He smacked my ass as he sped up his motions. "What was that?" He was baiting me.

"No, sir."

He grunted in the back of his throat, then twisted under me so he could suck on my clit. That didn't hinder his sped.

"Hmm." I tried to fight it, but it was hard.

He hummed against my clit and I lost it.

"Scott!" The floodgates opened up. "Ahhh,"

He flicked my clit back and forth to help me ride out my orgasm.

My legs felt like jelly already and we hadn't even fucked yet.

In the space between my hips and the bed he slid through until his hips were in front of my face, his big cock erect in front of my mouth.

I instinctively licked my lips.

"You said you weren't going to cum and you did. Now I've got to punish you."

I wanted to say if you think my sucking your cock is punishment then you haven't been paying attention, but I let him shove it in my mouth. This was a piece of meat I daydreamed about.

He held my hair back in his hands while he fucked my mouth.

My eyes held onto his as long as he held onto mine. I wanted him to know that I wanted this just as much as he did.

"Good girl."

I wanted him to cum in my mouth but he pulled out before he could do that.

He motioned for me to crawl up to him.

I did as I was told, but I did something I wasn't. My lips went to his.

He cupped my face in his hand and kissed me like how he kissed my pussy, like a dying man. He left me breathless when he pulled away. He turned me away from him so that we were both on our sides, then lined his cock up and shoved into my pussy raw like we liked it.

"Hngh," I cried out.

His big, muscled arm wrapped around my body to hold me close while his strokes did their worst. By worst, I meant I struggled to keep an inside voice. He jackhammered me like he really wanted to punish me.

My hand went to over my chest. "Fuck me!"

He turned my face to his as he leaned down to assault my mouth with his. He bit my bottom lip while he tugged on my nipple.

I moaned into his mouth when his tongue fought with mine again. I whimpered from the pain and pleasure. Never had anyone ravaged me in quite this way.

He tore his mouth away to focus on the sped he lost with our kiss.

"God, you're so deep."

His hot breath fanned across my skin deliciously.

I bit into my lip with a pathetic whimper. "Scott!"

He slowed down his motions to kiss across my shoulder. "You like that?"

"You'd know if I didn't."

He smacked my tit hard. "What was that?"

"You'd know if I didn't, sir."

I could tell his eyes glowed red from the spike in testosterone in the air. As a result, mine turned blue.

He wrapped a careful hand around my throat, not tight enough that I couldn't breath, just enough to have ran a thrill of excitement through me as his hips went back to hammering me.

I couldn't even string together a coherent sentence. Everything that I felt for Scott up until that point ran through my mind and only added to the pleasure that coursed through my body.

I looked to him as a sign because I didn't think I could tell him I was close.

He leaned his forehead down to mine. "Are you coming to come for me, Malia?"

My head nodded. It was so good I could almost cry.

His red eyes glowered into mine. "Cum."

"Don't sta...keep go...me...yes!" I exploded.

He grunted, then stilled as he shot inside me.

We both slumped there breathless and spent. Him more so than I.

"Woah." I caught my breath.

He grinned lazily over at me. "Yeah."

I rolled away to get water, but when I stood my legs gave out and I dropped to the floor.

Scott's laughter echoed in the room.

My arm shot up to give him the finger.

He came to the edge of the bed to inspect me. "I wonder what that's about?"

"I'm only letting you get away with this just this once because you literally disabled me."

His dimpled smile appeared. He scooped me up and threw me over his shoulder. "Let's go."

I made a few protests, but they were ignored.

He helped me into the shower. When my legs weren't strong enough to hold me up, he did with the water raining down on us.

We didn't say anything, words would only ruin this moment so after we washed I went to his chest and his arms wrapped around me. We stayed like that for a while, it was nice.

Then came the getting dressed part and the talking part.

He made us some hot chocolate from scratch.

"I'm not mad about the money anymore," He looked at me as he added the ingredients in the pot. "I mean, I am. I just now appreciate what you were trying to do. So thank you. That should've been the first thing I said to you."

I leaned against the counter in thought. "No, you should be mad at me. I knew how you felt about Peter and I ignored it."

He stirred around the pot. "Well, what's done is done. I just need to know one thing," His eyes locked on mine. "Are we going to keep doing this or are we going to call it quits?"

There was a third option that I didn't think either of us were ready for; commit.

"If the last few days were proof, we don't know each other like we thought we did. I'd like to work on that if you do?"

He stirred the pot some more as he thought. "Is that what you really want?"

"It feels like if we don't try then how are we going to know if we can actually work out? For all we know, we don't have anything in common."

He finally said, "That might not be so bad, but..."

"But we like to keep doing this."

He was about to lean forward to kiss me with a grin, but we both recognized the moment before it could happen.

"The thing is, we've tried this before and it didn't work out." He spoke. "So how is this time going to be any different?"

I pulled out my phone and went to my menstrual cycle app, then held it up. "We're going to have to be. Shark Week starts tomorrow."

His eyes narrowed at the app, then at me. "You call your period Shark Week?"

"Yeah, what do you call yours?" I joked.

He gave me a look.

I grinned nonetheless. "See, I think we can do this. The friends thing."

He poured the hot chocolate into two mugs, then handed me one. "To friends."

We clanked our mugs together.

"To friends."

Our eyes locked as we sipped at the sweet drink. Now we just had to resist the ever growing urge to jump each other's bones, which should be considerably easier with my period in the way for the next week.

A/N: So what do yall think of the new development? Are yall on board for them testing the friend waters or do yall just want them to be together? There were a lot of different ways this chapter could've gone. I have about eight pages of different conversations. I think to build upon the sexual relationship they have would be really great. I wanted this to be different than the first go round, but I also don't want them to be just fucking all the time with no character development. So please leave your thoughts below AND KEEP IN MIND that if you're commenting as a guest and ask a question that I can't reply. It never fails that someone asks me something as a guest and I can't reach out to them. There's literally no option for me to reply. Thanks for reading! IF you didn't know I posted a Scalia one shot called Green Light and that's open to continue after I finish this :)


	7. Ordinary People

The song for this chapter is Alex Vargas - Ordinary People (Acoustic SBTV: Music version)

LIAM'S POV:

" _Would you stop staring at my ass?" I demanded of Theo as I paced the room. My arms tucked into each other against my chest to keep from strangling him._

" _Wasn't a problem when you were staring at Stiles' ass, was it?"_

 _I glared at him._

 _Busted up and bruised he was still notably attractive. For some reason, that angered me more._

" _The only reason you're alive right now is because of Malia and Scott. Don't push it."_

 _He gave a small sigh. "I'd love to push into that tight little ass of yours."_

 _The gay male part of me would no doubt actually enjoy that, but the rational human being part of me would never let that happen._

" _You've got to stop saying stuff like that. It's not on the table." I gestured to him. "Besides it's not like you even have the strength to do it."_

 _His dirty blonde brow arched. "Thought about that, have you?"_

 _I cleared my throat. "Stop talking."_

" _We don't have to talk to do what I want to do."_

 _My eyes couldn't roll hard enough. I put on the TV for him, then went outside to sit on the steps. I called my mom._

 _She answered excitedly. "Honey, how are you?" Her tone heartwarmingly sweet._

" _I'm okay," I lied. "Things are good."_

 _She went silent, then said, "Liam, what happened? Is it too much too fast?"_

" _No no no." I assured. "Lacrosse is fine too. One of the upperclassmen is helping me get better."_

" _Oh, that's nice of him. So your classes are going well?"_

 _I made a face. I'd have to miss two of them to be here with Theo._

" _About as expected. I'm only a little behind, but I have the weekend to catch up if need be." Half truths were the best way to go with parents, they could usually always tell when you're lying._

 _She made a sound of indecision. "Is it a boy?"_

 _My head hung. "No, mom. There's no boy."_

" _Then maybe your father and I will just have to come down and see you."_

 _My heart stilled. "No!"_

 _Fuck. Now she'd know something was definitely up._

" _I mean, I want you guys to wait for Parent's weekend so you can bring Aunt Lisa and them. It's in a month or two. It'll be worth the wait. By then I'll be in a motion and everything will just be better." I hoped._

 _She couldn't come down here. My step dad couldn't come down here. If they got involved in this neither Malia nor Scott could hold me back from ending Theo._

 _She gave a semi satisfied sigh, but I knew she wasn't convinced. "Alright, sweetie. If you say so. Aren't you supposed to be in class?"_

 _I panicked. "Uh, yeah. That I'm late for. I'm at the doors, I just needed to hear your voice."_

" _I miss you, too."_

 _Hot tears sprung to my eyes. I hated that I had to keep all of this a secret from her, but it was for her own protection, for their own protection. I had no doubt in my mind that they'd accept who I was now, but there was no way to keep them at a safe distance with them knowing. My mom would come down here and give Theo a stern talking to and demand to speak to his parents to see where it all went wrong._

" _Love you. Tell dad I said hi."_

" _Okay, good luck in class. Love you, Liam." She hung up._

 _I sat there a while with the intention of never going back in there. There weren't many people out and about so I had the opportunity to just sit here and think._

 _Then the door opened and Theo walked out._

" _I don't have the energy to do this with you today," I told him with my gaze forward._

" _Then we won't." He paused. "Can I sit?"_

 _I had the feeling if I told him no that he would listen and that made me feel bad for him for some reason._

" _Sure."_

 _He sat beside me with a few inches of space and my body zinged with energy that I didn't want to feel as I stiffened._

" _What are you doing out here?" He asked._

" _Thought it was obvious."_

 _He fell silent. "Because of me." He nodded. "Yeah, it was." His tone solemn._

 _I stared forward with the attempt of trying to block him out._

" _I'm sorry," He ventured._

" _For what?"_

 _He blew out a heavy breath. "For you getting involved. This wasn't what you wanted. You weren't given a choice. Most of us aren't. I didn't mean to be the one to take that away from you, Liam."_

 _Surprised that he actually apologized I let some of the tension in my shoulders go. Not all, but some._

" _Thank you." My mind ran over his words. "Does that mean you weren't given the choice?" I found myself asking, my gaze still forward._

" _No, I wanted this. I_ needed _this. Or I would've been dead long before now."_

 _Intrigued, I asked, "What does that mean?"_

 _He was quiet for a few moments, then went on, "When Deucalion found me I had run away from home. I just couldn't stay there. My mom died when I was younger, Leukemia. He remarried a few years later. Then he died."_

 _I wanted to tell him that my dad had died when I was younger, but I couldn't speak. His words had robbed me of the right._

 _He moved an inch closer, his voice low. "She was the worst stepmother. When my father wasn't home she'd touch me and when he died it became worse." The emotion thick in his husky voice was enough to make me drop my defenses. "There was nothing I could do about it." He swallowed a lump in his throat. "Because I used to be blind."_

 _My eyes snapped to his. I searched for any indication that he could be right, but there was none. Just grayish blue eyes that screamed of the pain he had been in and the pain he was in now._

 _I reached forward to touch under his eyes. "That's why you wanted this?"_

 _He nodded against my fingers. "When Deucalion found me I was starving, broke, and homeless. And I couldn't see a damn thing."_

 _I mentally filed that away for later._

 _He looked at me full on. "He saved my life. For that, I did whatever he asked of me. Even when I knew they were bad things." His gaze lowered. "I guess...I just wanted someone to pay for the shitty parts of my life and I didn't care who."_

 _I'd be lying if I said I couldn't relate to that. We all could._

" _And he definitely gave me the means to. He was working on some enhancement serum for strength, injected me with it. If it didn't work, I'd be dead."_

 _With my hand back to my lap I leaned forward. "Why are you telling me all this?" My head tilted in speculation, my tone unopposing._

 _He thought on it, then leaned forward with his elbows on his knees like I had. His eyes roamed over my face, not sexually, just in the sake of roaming. "I don't want you to end up like me, Liam."_

 _With that my wall came completely down and I relaxed because I felt like I could. Like he wasn't going to hurt me._

" _If you didn't like who you became then why didn't you leave?"_

 _He sighed, then said, "I didn't have anybody else."_

" _We all do things we're not proud of." I looked off the side. "Like one time, I stole a cigarette from my mom's purse." I looked back at him in mock shame._

 _A smile formed on his face, a smile that made me look at him and maybe wish that things were different. Maybe._

" _If your biggest regret is stealing a cigarette from your mom's purse then you have nothing to worry about." He assured. "And Scott will make sure you don't go down the wrong path." He said with certainty. "He's good like that." His tone almost longing._

 _I moved over an inch closer. "You know, if you don't like who you are you can always change, Theo."_

 _He stared at me, then gave a wry grin. "You're young. The older you get the more set in your ways you become."_

 _My eyes racked over him. "How old are you?"_

" _Twenty-five."_

 _I took that in. Six years older than me._

" _Does that scare you?" His head tilted in speculation._

 _My head shook. "Why would it?"_

" _Some boys are intimidated by older men." He teased._

 _I brushed it off. "I'm not a boy."_

" _We'll see about that."_

 _My brow arched as I laughed. "You agreed on none of that."_

 _He smiled warningly like he was afraid to give it all to me. "And what might that be?"_

 _I pointed a lazy finger at him. "No trying to have sex with me."_

" _Have you seen you?" He leaned a little closer. "You don't have to like me to have sex with me, Liam."_

 _My gaze turned low-lidded as I gazed at him. "I'm not that kind of guy. No commitment no sex." I leaned forward so that my mouth was next to his. "Something tells me your the no strings kind of guy," I said against his lips._

 _He didn't pull away and he didn't move forward. "I'm not the kind of guy you want to be committed to. Trust me." He brushes his lips across mine and I felt the sides of my mouth light up in tingles._

 _Whatever propelled me to lean into it I didn't know, but I did. My lips pulled on his softly. Testingly._

 _My fingers went to the side of his chin to either pull him in or push him away, I didn't know. Once it was there my hand flattened against his cheek._

 _His hand went to my knee and slid up my leg as he deepened the kiss._

 _I could swear it felt like I'd kissed these lips before, but I hadn't. I'd remember kissing someone like Theo. It felt like I was on the edge of good and evil to be black and white about it. He was a terrible person that showed me the method to his madness. For that, I sympathized with him. Let me guard down._

 _Which is probably exactly what he wanted._

 _I pulled away from the kiss with a little bit of shame. "We can't." I shook my head. "You can't kiss me again."_

 _He gazed at me. "What if you kiss me?"_

" _That's not gonna happen."_

 _He nodded. "We'll see about that." He wore a lazy smirk that made me want to kiss him again._

I'd gone a full five days without kissing Theo.

That meant that I've seen him for five days and I resisted the urge to kiss him. He made it look so easy on his end, but I wasn't used to wanting something that I shouldn't have. The thing was that I didn't want him. I didn't want to be with him romantically. There was still a lot of unknown variables surrounding him. Like why he came to us. All he would ever say was that he trusted Scott to help him out when no one else would. I didn't trust Theo fully, but I felt I knew enough, more than others did, to have his back in a fight.

And yet whenever I was around him all I could think about was not kissing him. It felt like a game to him. He already had sex with another guy. I smelled it on him the day after it happened. That day I pretended like it didn't get to me. It didn't. Only in the sense that I wished it was me that was in his bed. Even if I was brave enough how does a virgin go about asking a man to fuck him? He'd laugh in my face.

I was in the library studying for Psych, which I didn't understand, with my headphones bumping in one of the private rooms when he sat in front of me looking like he rolled out of bed after sex. Knowing him he probably did.

He offered me some of his chips.

"What are you doing here?" I looked around the room to make sure no one else was on the couch or in the corner.

"I got bored. Whenever you're gone I get bored." He sat back in the chair, his eyes heavy on mine.

My eyes rolled. "Well, I can't just be with you twenty-four seven." I held up my notes. "I have to study. How'd you even get in here? You need a student ID to get through the doors."

"The girl at the front desk thought I was easy on the eyes. I gave her my number, told her I was visiting a _friend_."

"Are you going to screw her, too?" I couldn't help the jealousy that dripped from my voice.

His brow quirked up while his mouth held a curious smirk. "I wouldn't need to if you were willing, baby." He took my flashcards out of my hands to inspect. "Psych. Hmm."

I reached for them with a blush. "Theo,"

He ignored me and instead asked me a question that wasn't on my notes, but in the textbook.

I stared in confusion. "How do you know so much about Psych?"

"Wrong answer." He joked with his lazy grin, then asked another insanely smart question.

My gaze turned expectant.

He leaned back in the reclining chair to prop his feet on the wooden table. "When I was young I used to read textbooks in Braille of course. I couldn't learn by listening I had to read it for myself. So I spent the better part of my childhood reading and rereading textbooks until I understood what I needed to know."

Every day it was like I found out something new about him. There was a lot to find out. He was like a mystery wrapped in leather. A bad boy. A bad boy that wanted to fuck me.

"Do you still read in Braille?" I found myself asking.

He nodded. "From time to time. Just so it stays fresh. If something ever happened and I couldn't see at least I'd know how to read."

At first glance, Theo didn't seem the type to like to read or even be in a library for that matter.

"Alright, come on. Focus." He urged. He went through my flashcards and asked me extended questions, then things began to click for me. He was actually an excellent tutor. Seeing him go up to the whiteboard to further explain something I didn't understand was kind of hot in a sexy older teacher way. I'd let him teach me. If things were different.

He watched me to see if I got it. "What are you doing?"

"Picturing you with glasses," I said without thinking.

"I'd look hot, you know that. Back to Psych," He instructed sternly.

I tried to clear my mind, then my phone vibrated on the table.

My mom was calling me.

I quickly answered it. "Mom, are you alright?"

"Yes, sweetheart. I wanted to hear your voice, it's been awhile."

I grinned. "I called you this morning."

She laughed. "You did. That's right. What are you doing?"

My eyes went to Theo and I regretted it. He was wiping the whiteboard off, his ass flexed nicely in his jeans.

I cleared my throat. "You know, just studying." My voice went up an octave. My face flushed under Theo's gaze.

"Uh huh. Is that what they're calling it now."

My eyes went to the ceiling as I leaned back into my chair. "Mom, we're just studying."

"Alright," She played along. "What's his name?"

"Um, Scott." I lied.

Theo came to sit on the table in front of me with a smirk.

"You want to try that again?" My mom asked.

I rolled my eyes. "His name is Theo and we're just friends."

"How do you know this Theo? Does he have a Facebook so I can look him up?"

He laughed quietly from the table.

My head shook. "No, mom. You remember I told you one of the older teammates is helping me with Lacrosse?"

"Yes, of course."

"Well, he's staying with Scott for a while. Are you okay with that or do you need Scott's Facebook too?"

I heard typing in the background.

"It wouldn't hurt." She muttered.

Theo held his hand out for the phone. "I'll talk to her if she wants," He said loud enough for her to hear.

She perked up. "Oh, yes. Give him the phone, Liam."

My head shook. "No," I protested. I shot Theo a glared then wheeled the chair away from him. "Mom, I gotta go. I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"

She gave a small sigh. "Okay," She was about to hang up when said, "Hey, don't forget to text me your P.O. Box so I can send you some care packages."

My heart warmed. I gave a grateful grin. "I will. Love you."

"Love you, too." She hung up.

I wheeled back toward Theo in sadness.

"You miss her?"

I met his eyes and nodded. "Yeah. My stepdad, too. But I can't go home to see them or have them come up here and chance Deucalion getting a hold of them." I rubbed my eyes.

It was quiet for a few moments.

"I'm sorry, Liam." He said.

My hand went to my lap so I could look at him. "What?"

His hands gripped the edge of the table as he leaned against it, his triceps popped out. "I'm sorry for all of this. You not being able to see your mom sucks, especially because she's still alive. I think you're the only one in the group that has one."

When I thought about it, he was right. Stiles, Allison, and Scott's mom were dead. Malia's mom was awol, I think. Lydia didn't talk about her mom and Kira was adopted. I was the only one with a living mom that wanted to be in my life. That was something to be appreciative of. Theo made me realize that.

I couldn't help but look at him differently.

He reached behind for the flashcards. "One more round, then we get food."

I fought a grin and nodded.

MALIA'S POV:

The next day passed as normally as it could. We went to class. We ate. We brainstormed solutions for Deucalion with no good one in sight. It seemed like it would never come.

Lydia, Kira, and I sat in the Union with our books around us.

I'd been going over my Bio notes when Lydia snaked her hand into my pretzel bag. My hand smacked hers in retaliation.

"If Scott wanted a pretzel you'd let him get it no problem." She muttered.

Kira glanced up from her Astronomy textbook. "That's because Scott gives hits her g-spot just right. If you'd magically grow a penis I'm sure you'd get a pretzel, too."

My eyes rolled.

Lydia reached for it again.

I smacked her hand one more time.

She shot up from the table to head over to the grocery side.

Kira set her book down and stared at me. "So you two are really going to be just friends now?"

I flipped to the next page of my notes to show I was unbothered by the topic. "That's what I said wasn't it?"

"Look here bitch," She leaned forward. "I'm in support of this development. I don't want you to get hurt."

My notes forgotten, I looked at her. "Why would I get hurt?"

"Because no matter what Scott says about his feelings for you some part of him still has to be in love with Allison. You don't fall out of that overnight."

She was right. I knew she was right. But she also didn't know the connection we shared. I wanted to tell her, but there was nothing concrete to tell yet.

I nodded regardless. "I know that."

"Then act like it."

I checked to see that Lydia was still across the room, then leaned forward. "I'm getting real tired of you forcing your nose into my business with Scott. For your information, I was the one that left. I was the one that said I wanted to be friends. If I didn't I'd still be in his bed. And we don't have time for that right now."

She sat back with unsatisfied eyes. "I'm only trying to protect you, Malia. You're my sister. If this were Lydia you'd be the same way."

Maybe. Probably. But it wasn't Lydia. It was me.

"I'm a big girl, Kira. I can take care of myself." I went back to my notes. "And if I somehow can't then I'll give you the signal to step in." My eyes met hers in warning. "Until then, lay off or I'll make you lay off."

She nodded.

We went back to studying.

Another hour or so passed when Liam slid into our booth, knocking Kira over harder than necessary.

The sound of electricity crackling filled our space, but she knew she couldn't show it.

He turned to her. "Get over yourself." He reached into his pocket and placed his phone on the table. "One of my friends from back home, Brett, sent this to me. He heard about what happened to me and turns out," He glanced around us and leaned in to whisper, "He's a werewolf." He pressed play.

We watched in intrigue as the video played out. A few familiarish men were in the frame, then it switched to two men on their knees with burlap sacks over their heads. Theo walked into the shot right in front of them. He took their sacks off and glared at them. "What did I tell you to do? Huh?!" He screamed. "You bring the mom to me. We give her to Deucalion and the plan's in motion." He reached forward and stabbed his claws into one's eyes while he wailed in pain. "You idiots got her killed." He ripped the man's eyes out. "What part of we want her alive didn't you understand?" He crouched in front of the other, his hands bloody. "You know what I have to do. You screw up and you're out." He trailed his claws across the guy's throat. "No second chances. No do-overs. No forgiveness. You just die." He ripped out the guy's windpipe, then stood. The guy with no eyes squirmed on the floor and asked, "What happened?" Theo pulled him to a stand, his arms clutched around his head, then he snapped his neck. He looked up and stilled. "What are you doing here?" The camera panned to a girl, a young teenager, but the quality was too low to make out who it was before it cut off.

We all sat in silence.

Fear sat in my mind about the mom that he mentioned.

I looked up at Liam. "You don't think he meant..." I couldn't even finish the sentence, the idea was so horrible.

He looked down. "I hope not." Disappointment rang in his voice.

Lydia propped her head onto her fist. "When are we going to tell Scott?"

"We're not." I voiced. "Not until we know more." I felt Kira's gaze heavy on me so I met her eyes.

"Are you sure you can keep this secret from him?"

I huffed. "It's not a secret. We don't know anything for sure. And telling him that we think Deucalion and Theo had his mom killed isn't going to get us any information out of Theo if he's dead."

Liam nodded. "She's right. If Scott even thought for a second he had anything to do with it..." He looked at Kira.

She placed her hand on his shoulder in silence.

"There's no way this isn't going to blow up in our faces," Lydia muttered. "Scott's going to find out and he's going to get angry." Her eyes went to me. "Especially at you. Is that what you really want?"

I shrugged angrily. "No, but do we have a choice? Tell Scott and Theo's dead before we get to him. Don't tell Scott and we have time to hear Theo's side of things."

"Like what? A bunch of lies?" Kira clenched her jaw. "Why is he even with us? All he's doing is laying around Scott's apartment. He's not helping us with anything! And we're just trusting that he's not a mole?"

Liam shook his head slightly. "He can't be."

"Why is that?" She questioned.

"He told me about how he got involved with Deucalion. He helped him out when he was really down and out. He felt loyal to him, but he didn't agree with what he was doing. Deucalion gave him the bite and brainwashed him. He experimented on him. That's why he's so strong." He looked to me. "But when he came after him for not killing Allison he saw his true colors. Maybe Theo's not the good guy, but he's not the bad guy either."

Kira scoffed. "You saw that video. He looked like the bad guy to me. And if he had something to do with Scott's mom then he damn sure is the bad guy."

Lydia straightened up, her hand held up cautiously. "How about we wait until we know all the facts before we start Judgement Day."

More silence filled the table.

We kept it quiet for the day then agreed that the best way to distract Scott long enough to interrogate Theo was to use me. I felt slimy doing it, but felt cornered by all of us what would he do?

ALLISON'S POV:

After being in that hotel room for a few days I had enough of my dad and Stiles babying me. I just wanted to go back to my dorm. The Senior Resident of the dorm understood and was willing to watch over my hall in the meantime. Even if my professors didn't understand, my dad didn't give them room not to when he basically told them I wouldn't be in classes until I was better, whenever that would be.

I was going to classes next week, that's for damn sure. I was ahead in my work with all the free time I had. There was no reason to stay here any longer and play invalid. Sure, I'd been shot in the stomach, but I was fine.

Once Lydia got out of her classes for the day she came by to kidnap me to her room a few doors down.

In the last few days her and Kira had been more hands on with me then I would've thought. Especially Kira. You couldn't convince me a few days ago that she didn't hate me to my core.

To be the person that everyone watched over, you ended up watching everyone else back. Which meant that I saw how Lydia was around Stiles and how Stiles didn't seem to notice.

We laid on her bed as we did our nails, a movie on in the background.

She went on about how the theory of Black Holes and Dark Matter. To be honest, a lot of it went over my head because I wasn't paying attention. I was too focused on clearing the air that it made me nervous.

"Lydia," I paused on my pastel pink nail.

She continued painting. "Hmm?"

"If you like Stiles why don't you ask him out?"

Her jade eyes shot to mine. "Excuse me?"

I put the brush back into the bottle to stare at her. "I've got eyes, Lydia. You like Stiles. Say something."

She sat up to face me, a look of unease on her face. "Why would I do that? He loves you."

My eyes rolled. "I don't know where you got that from, but he doesn't. Not like that. I remember when we first got back and he thought he had a chance with you."

"He did?" Her head tilted, her strawberry blonde curls fell from her

shoulder.

"Yeah," I nodded. "Then Scott told us Malia told him you thought he was gay and that sort of evaporated because he didn't think he had a chance."

She pressed her lips together, then leaned forward. Her hand went to mine. "All I know is that no matter what I feel for Stiles, I'd never do to that to you." She squeezed my hand.

I went back to my room a little while later to find my dad went out for a bit and that left Stiles and me alone. Being alone with him the last few days has been difficult in the sense that he's been different with me. We're fine when my dad or the girls are with us, but the second it's just us he clams up.

Like how when my dad left Stiles practically ran for the shower. He's been in there a while. It felt like he was avoiding me and I didn't know why.

I stood with the notion that while I had the room to myself I could do a little post-surgery physical therapy for my stomach. The moment my hands pressed into the rough carpeted floor and my feet balanced me up, pain shot through my middle. A breathy curse left me as I did another. And another. I transitioned into mountain climbers that pooled tears to my eyes. When those became too much I laid on my back and did switch kicks until I was on my side, my hand pressed to my stomach with a groan in my throat.

"What happened?" Stiles rushed to my side.

I hadn't realized the shower had stopped. Or that my quietness would warrant him to fly out of the bathroom in nothing but black sweatpants, a few water droplets slid down his bare chest and through his slick hair.

He helped me up on the bed. His hands lifted up my shirt to inspect my stitches. "Are you crazy?" His tone indignant.

My hands swatted his away. "No, but I am going insane. Between you and my father, it's like I'm living in Fort Knox."

His eyes narrowed. "You were kidnapped, then shot, Allie. How do you think we're going to react?"

"I'm not made of glass, Stiles. For you of all people to keep treating me like I am is incredibly frustrating and debilitating."

I wanted to give him slack because he was Stiles, but another day of this treatment and I was seriously considering running away.

Without a word he got up and went over to his bag in the corner. He came back with his Emei daggers.

A shriek of excitement filled me at the sight of him holding them and walking toward me shirtless and wet.

"What are you doing?"

He handed one to me. "You want to learn how to feel strong again, is that it?"

I gave a sheepish laugh. "I already know how to use these. You taught me."

"No, you know how to play with them. You don't know how to use them, how to actually stab with them."

My forehead creased. "Okay, so you want me to what? Stab you with this for practice?"

He stood. "I want you to try."

"You're crazy. I'm not stabbing you."

He nodded toward my hand that was spinning the dagger on its own.

I stopped it with my thumb, then shoved it back to his chest while I stood. "I'm not stabbing you, Stiles. I'll think of something else." I moved past him.

His warm hand grabbed my arm to still me. His honey eyes gazed down into mine with uncertainty. "I was scared, okay. That I was going to lose you that night. I get that I'm smothering you, but I don't care. If anything happens to you..." He cut himself off, his eyes all over my face.

"I'm not going anywhere," I promised.

I was too caught up in his body heat and the intensity of his stare to move.

He leaned down an inch. "Why should I believe you?"

My eyes ran over his lips, down his chest, and to his firm hand wrapped around my arm. I looked back up at him. "Because you won't let me go."

His eyes dipped down to my mouth.

Was he going to kiss me? Did he want to kiss me?

His hand softened its grip on my arm. "In case you doubt it, I think that you're the strongest woman I know. You don't need super abilities or weapons training. You've managed to stay alive without it." His eyes dripped in sincerity. "And I think that makes you about the most amazing person I know." His voice dipped low.

"Stiles," I was touched by his words, now I wanted him to touch me. I inched closer to him, my hands went down to his, and my mouth moved for his hesitantly. "You forgot intimidatingly smart," I grabbed the Emei dagger from his hand and held it to his throat in the way he taught me.

He looked a mixed of surprised and impressed.

A light smirk danced on my lips.

"And seemingly perfect and beautiful." He expertly snatched the daggers from my hands and threw them onto the bed.

I tried to hide my grin, but it shined through. "I'm not perfect."

"You are to me." He stepped forward.

Nervous I turned around.

His body heat wrapped around me as he neared. "Allie, look at me."

My head shook. I couldn't. All of a sudden, when confronted with the real possibility of Stiles and I being together, fear stricken me. Fear of things being perfect, fear of things not being perfect, and fear of upsetting Scott. I was already the world's biggest bitch to him and I didn't want to hurt him anymore by shoving anything with Stiles in his face.

He turned me around, but I wouldn't look at him. He had to grab my chin between his thumb and finger. "I don't want to hurt him either, okay?" He nodded. "But I like you. I always have."

I stilled at his words. "What?"

His warm hand spread across my cheek. "I liked you the moment I stepped foot into that classroom and saw you sitting in the corner with your head down. You were reading a book while the teacher was giving a lecture. She called on you and you still knew the answer without blinking."

I grinned at the memory from so long ago.

"I had to make myself stop looking at you, but you caught me once. When you looked at me I felt like I knew you from somewhere else." He got a faraway look in his eyes. "Something Scott told me made me realize that I did."

My forehead creased in confusion.

He met my eyes again. "It's nothing."

I moved closer to him. "I liked you back."

"Liked?" His brow rose.

My throat cleared. "Stiles, we can't do this."

His eyes said what I didn't want to. "Because of Scott?"

I nodded.

A sigh left him. "If I'm being honest, I don't feel comfortable about it either." He pulled me in for a hug.

My eyes widened as I pressed against his bare chest that was all pecs, abs, and biceps. I made a noise of approval in the back of my throat that he laughed at.

"So where do we go from here?" He asked.

I felt guilty for saying it, but I knew that it had to be this way. "Maybe it's best we pretend we didn't have this conversation."

He stilled around me. "Forever?"

I looked up at him.

"Scott's going to move on eventually. And I don't think I can ignore what I feel forever."

I supposed he was right. I couldn't either, especially now that I knew he was interested.

"Six months." I stared at him. "Six months and if we still feel the same by then we figure things out," I suggested.

He mulled it over. "Six months..." He pulled away. "Six months, Allie." His hands went to his hips in contemplation until he finally turned back to me. "I can wait six months." He offered a hand. "Deal."

I shook it in a truce. "Deal."

He offered a promising smile.

My face flushed in color. "Now please put on a shirt. It's distracting."

He laughed. "Is it?" He moved toward me with a knowing look.

I moved out of his grasp. "Six months, Stilinski."

He grinned mischievously. "That doesn't mean we can't have fun until then."

"Fun is dangerous." I danced around his movements. "Fun hurts Scott."

We settled on our arrangement and tried to pretend that nothing changed, which was really hard to do when my dad came back to the room.

MALIA'S POV:

I swung by Scott's place that morning to go with him to the gym. I didn't do much weight lifting today because of my period, it made me bloated and squatting continuously with a tampon is was a recipe for disaster. So I switched between running on the treadmill and cycling while Scott did his own thing. After a while, he eventually joined me on the cycles.

"Ice cream sound like a good plan after this?"

I took out an earbud. "Actually, I was thinking we could do some grocery shopping? I'm getting tired of D-Hall and my bonus dollars are only going to get me so much at the Stu."

He nodded. "That's not a bad idea."

I drove in my car to the Walmart because I wanted to get some supplies as well.

We strolled down the aisles side by side.

"So," I glanced over at him. "How'd your dinner with your dad go?"

He glanced down at me, then let out a little huff. "Not too well."

I beelined for the produce section. "Care to elaborate?"

"Hmm." He shook his head.

"Was it that bad?" I picked up a head of broccoli and held it up for inspection.

He shook his head, then picked another fresher looking bundle. "Yes."

I looked at him expectantly. "If we're going to be friends then you can share these things with me."

"I could share them with you before. Now I just don't have to." He pushed on.

I went after him with my cart. "Uh, yes you do. I tell you my stuff."

He cut his eye at me. "You've told me about your sister, but that's it. You were right. Virtually, I don't know you."

My lips pursed. "Fine. My adoptive dad, Henry, is pretty great. When I found out that he wasn't my birth dad it didn't change anything, only brought us closer. Other than the girls he's my best friend. I can count on him for anything. He's never judged me, never made me feel bad about what I am. Without him, I don't know who I'd be."

Scott looked at me with understanding eyes. "That how my mom was."

My heart tugged, especially when a bead of guilt formed in my stomach. I prayed that Theo and Deucalion had nothing to do with his mom's death.

He picked up some Fuji apples.

"Those are my favorite." I grabbed a bag along with him.

He cracked a dimpled grin.

"So that dinner..." I prompted.

He tied the bag together, then met my gaze. "I was really nervous." He admitted. "Things didn't start off great, but then he ordered our favorite dessert from when I was little. For a few moments it felt like we could build something else, but I realized that it couldn't work and it never would. So I left."

"You mean you ran away?"

We stared at each other.

He nodded shamefully. "Yeah, I did. All I could think about is talking to you when I got home, being with you. But you were gone." He put the bag of apples in his basket and moved on.

I followed.

"I should've been there for you. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. I talked to Stiles and it was much needed." He paused. "I signed the drop papers for Lacrosse."

A proud smile formed on my face. "That's great. Congratulations." It felt weird congratulating him on giving up on something, but in this case, it was good for him. "I'm sorry that I overstepped my boundaries." I couldn't admit it to him, but some part of me did feel guilty for Peter turning him and everything that lead up to his mom dying, especially if it had something to do with me.

He teasingly knocked his basket into mine. "I'm really glad that you did. It feels like a huge weight off my shoulders. And now I just have to figure out my new major." He held an enthusiastic tone, one that I wasn't used to hearing on him.

"I started practicing on your guitar a little more." He went on. "I'm still not very good, but you were right. The focus calms me down, lets me think, and escape." Again his tone on the edge of cheerful. "Are you sure you don't want it back?"

Impressed, I grinned. "No, you keep it. I've got others." At home and I get a little irritable when I don't play often now, but I didn't tell him that.

"Thank you."

I nodded.

"What do you want to do with your music? I mean, I know that you want to work with kids, but career wise what would you do with it?"

I stopped in the middle of the bread section. "I haven't thought about it too much."

He gave me a look.

"Okay," I admitted with a smile. "I want to start a music camp or maybe a music program or even a music scholarship for all ages. The way people transform when they play music is unreal. Seeing the progression from beginner to guitarist is rewarding. I've seen it happen." My mind went back into my memories when things used to be a lot simpler. "With my sister."

"You taught Kylie how to play?"

I nodded. On that guitar, but I didn't want him to know that.

"Music is a way to always stay connected to someone, even when they're gone," I muttered.

He pulled me to his side for comfort. "Music's your connection to Kylie, I get it. I sort of think about my mom when I practice. It's peaceful in a way."

I looked up at him. "I don't think anyone's ever put that together about me."

His eyes turned heavy and I could tell that he wanted to reach down and kiss me.

"Hey," Some guy shouted behind us. "If you're going to make out can you at least move out of the middle of the aisle first assholes?" He shoved his cart past ours, hitting mine out of the way.

Scott bulldozed forward after him and snatched him up by the back of his shirt. "Excuse me?"

"Get the fuck off me, man?"

A few people halted in their efforts to shop.

"Apologize," Scott demanded.

I inwardly groaned. "Scott, you don't have to do that."

The blonde haired asshole smirked. "Yeah, listen to your bitch."

The feminist in me wanted to punch him into next week, but I let it roll off my back. It wasn't that big of a deal to me. To Scott, it was a different story.

Scott shoved him up against a freezer door. "You think it's okay to refer to women as bitches?"

People had already started recording the interaction. This was bad.

"I'll get a worker." Someone told me.

The guy pushed Scott back or rather Scott let him push him back.

"He's not worth it," I told Scott.

The guy threw a grimace at me. "Stay out of this girl." He said 'girl' like he believed I should be in the kitchen. "You people need to learn you don't belong here."

"What the hell does that mean?" Scott demanded.

Blonde haired frat guy pointed an accusatory finger at him. "You fucking illegals think you can just come over here and do whatever the hell you want!" He spat with disgust. "All you're good for is dirtying up our society. We're coming for your asses, you fucking wetbacks."

Whatever patience I had in me snapped.

I rushed forward to body slam his to the linoleum. My fists bashed into his face with a satisfying crunch. "What the hell did you say you racist piece of garbage?!"

People tried to pull me off of him but I was too strong for their frames.

"What is going on here?" A voice with an iota of authority pressed.

"Who do you think you are you Donald Trump esque, sexist pig? What gives you the right to talk to people like that?" I kneed him in the crotch.

Scott gathered me up in his arms. "Please, calm down before you transform." He said into my ear. His arms encased me close to him.

Angry tears stung my eyes as I struggled to control my breathing. "He can't just talk to you like that." I could handle his words, but Scott didn't deserve them.

"It's okay, Lia." His low voice assured. "I'm okay."

My emotions bubbled out of me.

Scott dragged me into away from all the mess.

"I'm calling the cops." A white guy stepped in front of us. "On that racist. This could be considered a hate crime." He said as if it made us feel better.

The assumed general manager chased after us. "I am so sorry you two. This will be dealt with."

A few people scooped up the guy off the ground who was slack from Malia's revenge.

"We're making a citizen's arrest." One of them said.

The manager stuck his hand out. "My name's Henry Allen. This is not what Walmart stands for. I'm terribly sorry about this. If you'll accept I want to offer some vouchers for free groceries or whatever you need."

"You don't have to do that," Scott assured.

Henry stepped forward. "No, it's the least we can do. I can't believe there's still racism around."

Scott nodded. "Yeah, I thought President Obama fixed all that."

I couldn't help the snicker that slipped out.

He looked down at me with hopeful eyes.

"I'm okay." I wiped at my face.

"Again, I'm so sorry about this. From what I saw you've got a brave girlfriend here. And with your consent, I'm going to call the local news station to report about this."

I nodded vigorously.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Scott asked.

He meant well, but another news report with my face in it wasn't going to draw Deucalion any closer. He knew where we were at. If anything it would keep him at bay with the extra attention on us.

"Yeah, I'm sure."

We waited in the office while the News team arrived. Victoria Wrescilo nearly attacked us with concern as she peppered us with pre-interview questions. She was just as nice as I remembered her being from the time she reported on my apartment.

Then all of a sudden we were on camera and I was frozen. Scott's hand on my hip tightened.

Scott did most of the talking about the course of events and Henry's generous offer.

We were about to wrap up when I stepped forward. I looked at Victoria. "I just want to say one thing."

"Of course." She encouraged.

I faced the camera head on. "We live in a world where it's a debate if Racism still exists. As progressive as California is confederate bigots still walk among us. I'm here to encourage you all to not stand for it."

"It didn't frighten you that he was a man and could potentially harm you?" She asked with a bit of smugness of the truth to her question.

"For one, it shouldn't matter who you are. Standing up for what and who you believe in," I glanced at Scott. "Should be automatic. That man was bold enough to let those derogatory slurs come out of his mouth, he was brave enough to get beaten up. By a woman." I said proudly.

Victoria smiled at me proudly, then turned back to the camera. "And there you have it, folks..."

I turned back to Scott.

Adoration sat on his face while he took me in. "You are amazing." He said as if it kept happening.

"What are friends for?" I bumped my hip with his. "Now let's finish shopping. I'm hungry."

He chuckled as he bumped his hip into mine.

"Just don't be dramatic this time." I teased.

He pointed at himself with a grin. "I'm dramatic?"

I nodded.

"I can deal with that as long as you don't smack me around like that."

I laughed. "The day's still young, McCall."

This time we went through the store without a hitch. There was even an air of peacefulness about it. Or maybe that was between us.

He laughed and joked liked it was the easiest thing to do after what happened and while I loved this side of him I didn't love that we weren't acknowledging the racism that we just experienced.

So when we rounded a corner, I said, "You know I'm part Latina, right?"

He looked at me and looked down. "Sorry, you had to go through that."

"You're sorry?" My hand went to his bicep. "I've never experienced anything like that before. Maybe because until now I didn't acknowledge that part of me."

"Why didn't you?"

I shrugged. "Because of my birth mother. She walked out on me, robbed me of the life I was supposed to have with her and Peter. With her gone, I didn't have a form of reference, I guess."

"A day at one of my family cookouts might set you straight."

A teasing grin hit my face. "Are you inviting me home to meet the family, McCall?"

He made a face. "I'm already regretting it." He pushed his cart forward.

I let out a choked laugh and followed him.

SCOTT'S POV:

I was surprised by how easy it was to be around Malia to not wrap her in my arms and not kiss her until she was weak in the knees. When she defended me from the racist earlier I could've done just that. Her ferocity and protective over me was extremely attractive and maybe it made my heart warm a bit more for her. Or a lot more. I had to get used to the fact that I was going to ask her to be my girlfriend and she didn't want that.

Shopping with her easily could become one of my favorite activities as sad as that was.

When she detoured to the tools section I followed in intrigue.

She put a few pieces of wood in her basket.

"What are you building?"

"Something for Allie. We're going to train her once she heals a bit more." She grabbed a tool box.

My hand grabbed it from hers to survey it. "This is an overpriced shit toolbox," I met her gaze. "I have one you can use."

A provocative smile teased her kissable lips. "That's hot."

I cracked a dimpled grin. "You should see my plumber's crack." I joked.

She laughed with a roll of her eyes.

I felt weird asking, but I had to know. "Has she asked about me?"

All traces of amusement left her as she faced me. "Yeah," She nodded with hopeful eyes. "All the time."

My head nodded at the information. Some sort of relief filled me, but not much. Allison still didn't want to talk to me, but I guess this was good.

"It won't be so bad in a few weeks. Things will go back to normal. You guys will become inseparable again. And the girls and I will go back to doing whatever it was we were doing before you."

Being that I knew Malia if I asked them to join my pack they'd say no. And I understood. But that didn't mean that it felt like we had all become one instead of two. A future where we weren't all as close didn't seem appealing. A future where Malia and I weren't anything didn't seem acceptable. I hands down didn't accept it.

She stared at me questioningly as if waiting for me to say to something.

I didn't know what to say.

With a huff, she turned from me and strutted down the aisle.

Lost about what just happened, I stood there, then quickened my pace to catch up with her.

We picked up a few more things in silence, mostly on her end. The kind of silence only girls could have that said don't even look at me too hard or your ass is about to get lit up and left the guy twiddling his thumbs.

An admittedly attractive guy headed our way, his eyes on Malia like a hawk. I didn't need to know his chemosignals to know he wanted to do things to her and her to do things to him.

She looked up from a selection of tables to spot him. Her eyes roamed over him in appreciation.

"Hey," He grinned at her.

She flipped her hair over her shoulder and propped on her hip, her tan and creamy legs on display. "Hey," She gave a sexy smile.

I wasn't proud of it but my chest puffed out as I stood beside her with what I knew was a menacing glare and a hard jaw. My gaze directed at him.

He locked eyes with me and almost jumped back, then scurried off into the distance.

"Really?" She asked, her tone disbelieving.

My gaze turned to her. My hand went to her hip and pulled her to me, my hand across her stomach. I lowered my mouth to her ear. "If you weren't on your period I'd take you back to my place and punish you."

Her estrogen spiked. "What happened to friends?"

"Friends or not, I don't want to see you flirting with another guy in front of me." I pressed my semi hard cock into her ass. "Is that clear?"

A little moan passed her lips for only me to hear. "Yes, sir." Sadistic pleasure filled her words.

When I let her go she had satisfied smirk on her face as she stared at me.

My eyes dared her to defy me, which I should've felt bad about especially because we weren't together, but we both know this got us off.

We walked down the aisles in comfortable silence. We were about done, I just had to get one more thing.

Once down the ice cream aisle I went to the freezer that held Halo Top, put a few red velvet pints in my basket.

Her eyes burned into me.

I turned back to her with feigned innocence. "Hmm?"

A dimpled smile took over her face. "Perks of being your friend, huh?"

I toyed with a grin on my lips. "I don't know what you're talking about." I pretended, then strolled down the aisle.

She came after me with a laugh. "Don't give me that, McCall." Her laughter halted when she spotted the same person I had.

Kenzie was by the produce, she looked up and saw me. She sent a wave and started our way.

I silently cursed in my head.

"Scott," She beamed at me. "I was wondering when I'd run into you again." Her eyes fell on Malia. "And you." Her excitement also fell.

Malia's low growl worried me.

My hand went to Malia's waist to send a signal. "I'm around." My heart sped up. Thanks to Stiles I remembered how crazy things were with her and I had no intention of going back. We could be friends, not how Malia and I were friends, just friends.

She noticed the exchange, then met my eyes. "If you're not doing anything we should hang out this weekend?"

"We're busy," Malia stated with no room for misinterpretation.

Kenzie nodded. "Okay..." Her mood declined.

I felt bad because she probably didn't have many friends here yet if any, but if I had to lessen the hold she had on me to keep Malia in my life I'd do it.

"Another time," I suggested.

"Yeah," She didn't sound hopeful that there would be another time. She rolled her cart past us.

I looked down at Malia asking if she was okay.

The hardness from her jaw dropped and she relaxed.

I leaned down to press my lips to hers reassuringly.

Surprised, she still tugged on mine until I pulled away. "What happened to friends?"

"Friends kiss friends." I attempted to convince her.

Her brow arched. "I'm not complaining, but no more kisses." She pushed forward, then glanced over her shoulder. "At least, not in public."

My wolf wanted to maul her into the bed and so did my dick. Instead, I went after her toward the checkout lines.

Being the gentleman my mom raised me to be I started to put her bags in the trunk of her jeep for her.

Her arms folded across her chest with a look of dislike in her gaze.

I paused with the bags in my hands. "What did I do now?"

"I can put my own bags in the trunk, I don't need you to do it for me."

Not wanting to come off like a douche I took a mental step back before I spoke. "Okay," I paused again, not sure of the appropriate response to this. "Just so I'm clear, you're mad because I wanted to help with your bags?" I couldn't help the condescending tone in my voice.

"Here we go," She muttered.

Not meaning to, but completely fed up I threw the bags into the trunk. "I support that you're a feminist and the cause, but there's a point when it becomes too much."

Her brow arched. "You know it's not about not being appreciative for chivalry, it's about us needing you to know that we don't need it to get by."

My eyes narrowed. "So if I hold the door open for you are you gonna get mad?"

She thought about it. "No, but I don't need you to hold the door for me."

I nodded. "I'm well aware of that. You're are the most independent woman I've ever met it's frustrating sometimes but I love that about you, but arguments like these aren't worth it."

She stared at me, a look of slight shock on her face.

"What?"

Her head shook. "Nothing,

I just assessed her. "Lia, I'm not a mind reader. I don't know how to date a feminist."

She held a finger up. "We aren't dating."

"That's beside the point. We're something and if I keep offending you then how is this going to work?"

She pursed her lips. "I see your point." She sighed. "Maybe...I did over react, but you've got to understand that I'm not used to a man doing those things for me, especially not since Deucalion. In general, I don't really trust men to even get as close as you have. Those other guys didn't open doors for me or offer to pay or even want to call me their girlfriend. And I didn't need them to." She took a step closer, her eyes understanding. "You're an Alpha, Scott. And a nice guy. I know that you want to do those things for me. Maybe one day I won't mind them, but they make me uncomfortable now."

I nodded. Was I the one over reacting? Was I wrong to feel hurt by this?

My throat cleared. "How about this, when I do something that goes against what you believe, let me know. Don't just get mad at me because I'm a guy." I offered a small smile.

"Trust me, I love that you're a guy." Her eyes trailed down to my pants and nearly stared a hole into my jeans.

I actually felt a little naked now.

"You can't objectify me and be a feminist." I pointed out.

She grabbed a few of her bags and placed them in the trunk. "What are you going to do to stop me?" Her eyes went to mine.

My eyes narrowed.

What would really get to her?

"I won't watch _The 100_ with you anymore." Even as I said it, I knew I'd finish it on my own.

A little gasp left her at the prospect. She stared at me open-mouthed. "You wouldn't." Her tone tender.

I nodded. "I would."

"But I need you to ship Clexa with me."

My head shook. "I can't. I'm already too invested in Flarke."

She burst out into laughter.

I didn't see what was funny.

"What?"

Her hand went to her stomach. "That's so pitiful."

"Why is that?"

Her hand went to my shoulder to my shoulder. "This is going to be a hard road for you. You're better off with Bellarke."

I thought about it. "Bellamy and Clarke. Why would I want them to be together? They hate each other."

"Yeah, but they eventually have a great friendship. It's more like a partnership. Great potential, but I want to see Clarke eat some pussy." She winked.

I laughed. "Why do I get the feeling we'd watch lesbian porn together?" I reached for my bags.

"Oh, I'm so down."

We laughed as we loaded the trunk.

In the car, I thought about how we went through about twenty emotions in the course of our Walmart trip, but I was okay with it because that's what getting to know someone was. If everything was peaches and creme there would be a problem.

ALLISON'S POV:

The next day a knocking woke me up from my nap.

My dad answered it being he was already up. He called for me.

I turned over in bed to see Lydia and Stiles in the room and groaned.

"Let's go." He sat on my bed. "We've got an interrogation to conduct."

"What?"

Lydia explained that Liam had a video of Theo doing some unsavory things that warranted an interrogation that should've already happened in my opinion, but he seemed harmless.

Lydia fell on my legs. "Come on, I'll do your hair." She smiled.

I perked up. "Can you do that french braid you did the other day?"

She nodded.

I jumped out of bed. Lydia's hairstyles were the cutest and I envied her strawberry blonde locks like a ridiculous amount. As I showered my dad came into the bathroom.

"Honey, I'm going to go meet with Peter. We're going to go check out some leads. I won't be back until tonight."

I slid the curtain back a little. "Really? You do know what's he's done, right?"

He nodded. "He's also helped out with this. If Malia's in danger he's involved. We need to come together and pull our resources."

What he said made sense, but I didn't want it to. This was Peter we were talking about. Also Malia's birth dad. Malia seemed to trust him so maybe there was another side of Peter we hadn't seen.

"Okay, see you when you get back." I finished showering.

On the way over to Scott's apartment, they explained that Malia was distracting him for the time being so we only had a few hours to get everything out of him.

LIAM'S POV:

We all gathered in the apartment under the guise that I was coming to take Theo to a late lunch.

He stood before us, his arms across his broad chest. His eyes went to me after he sized us up. "What's going on?"

I couldn't make my mouth work.

Kira stepped up. "We need to talk to you, ask you some questions, and this time we want real answers." Her hand raised to show off the electricity she could control. "And I'm not afraid to fry you to get them."

Lydia came forward. "What Kira's trying to say is we've taken a big chance in letting you stay here and put us at risk. We'd like to know what we're risking our lives for because not too long ago you were on the other side of things. We need to know the full extent of your involvement with us, everything you know."

He plopped down on the couch with resigned eyes. "Ask away."

I could tell he already pulled back from the conversation. He knew we wouldn't like the answers and we knew we wouldn't like the answers.

After going over his version of the truth about several billion times he finally cracked under the intensity of our glares.

He shot up. "I did what I had to do. I wasn't like any of you. You have families. You had people that cared for you. All I had was a dysfunctional pack of sociopaths. I had to be who I had to be to survive." His eyes slid to mine. "And that doesn't it make it okay, but I'm trying _now_." He looked to Allison. "You can hate me all you want for what I did to you, but I would really like it if you gave me another chance." His heart beat slowed as he awaited her answer.

She studied him, but I knew she'd forgive him because she was Allison.

She looked to Stiles briefly, then back at Theo with a sigh. "That depends on your answer to the next question." She looked at me.

Reluctantly, I reached into my back pocket and brought up the video, then handed it to her.

"This video,"

Theo and I locked eyes. He put together my involvement and I couldn't have felt guiltier.

He took the phone and watched the video in its entirety. Remorse washed over him heavily.

Stiles stepped forward. "Is it true? Did Deucalion plan to kill Scott's mom? Did you have some involvement?"

He sat back down, his eyes on the screen.

"Theo, you need to tell us the truth." Stiles continued. "We don't have much time before Malia and Scott get back. If we don't know the truth then we can't protect you when Scott finds out."

This all felt surreal. There was no delusion that Theo was the perfect citizen, but in the days we spent together that part of him felt nonexistent and I'd seen parts of Theo that wouldn't be afraid to call him my friend.

Now I was forced to reevaluate that.

He looked up at Stiles. "Deucalion knew for a while that he wanted Scott. He kept tabs on you guys," He looked at Lydia and Kira. "He saw Scott one, recognized him from Peter's time in Beacon Hills. He found everything about Scott, he knew he was a True Alpha and he was threatened by that. If he couldn't control that power then he wanted to destroy it." He faltered off, then pressed on. "So he had a few lackeys follow his mom around. They got caught and to keep it quiet they killed her." He looked down at his lap. "Deucalion wanted her alive, maybe as leverage so Scott would do what he said, but those idiots screwed everything up. And now that you all know Scott's going to kill me."

My feet moved forward. "We won't let him." I stared at him.

He stared back. "I don't think you can make that promise, Liam."

"Scott's going to rip you apart," Allison assured. "So either run away or ready yourself for it."

He sat there in contemplation.

This was his moment. We were virtually giving him an out or a chance to stay and prove himself. What was he going to do with it?

"I can't go back there," He stared at the floor. "And you guys are pretty much all that I have." His eyes went to mine briefly.

There was a collective sadness in the room at his words, but we were all still wary.

"I'm staying." He looked around the room at us. "If you guys will let me?"

Kira groaned in frustration. "Okay, I vote he stays. He has information that we could use. I know how Deucalion can be," Her jaw clenched. "If he gave you your eyesight back then he definitely made you feel indebted. He used your need for a family to his advantage." She propped her hands on her hips. "I vote he stays." She looked at Lydia.

Lydia looked at Stiles.

Stiles didn't look like he wants to even let Theo sit on the couch, let alone stay.

Lydia turned back to him. "You can stay, but we need you on our side completely."

He nodded.

Allison shook her head. "I don't trust you."

"You don't have a reason to. Let me give you one." He reasoned.

She looked about to refuse.

"I say we give him a chance. Since he's been here hasn't hurt any of us and clearly, he could've. He came to us for help. Who does that make us if we turn him away?" I finished.

"You sure it's not because he's easy on the eyes and wants you in his bed?" Kira teased with a smirk.

My entire body blushed under their stares.

Theo laughed.

Kira held out her fist and the fist pumped.

Lydia shook her head at their antics.

"It doesn't really matter what we want. If Scott doesn't want him around there's nothing we can really do about that." Allison argued.

Allison was usually reasonable so I couldn't quite figure out why she was so against Theo. Sure, he held her captive and threatened her life, but he apologized for that. Then again he had an indirect role to play in her childhood best friend's mom's death. It looked back on his end. Maybe she was trying to make up for the fact that she hadn't been there for Scott in the past week.

"He'll have to get over that. If there's a chance that Theo staying could mean all of us not dying he's not going to throw that away." I reasoned.

Theo nodded. "Maybe in the long term, but short term he'll definitely want to kill me."

My hand ran down my face. All of this was physically and mentally draining. How did they do this all the time?

"We won't have to wait long, they're on their way back to the apartment now." Lydia texted a reply.

The room was tense the entire wait.

Stiles and Allison discussed things in the corner.

Lydia started making something in the kitchen while Kira and Theo talked on the couch.

I was too wound up to stay still so I paced the room.

He caught my gaze a few times, but I couldn't hold it. I felt too responsible for this.

When their footsteps sounded from outside we all stilled.

Scott unlocked the door with bags in his hands with Malia in tow. She looked around the room speculatively.

"Hey guys," He said. "Didn't know we were all having something at my place." He stilled when he saw Allison.

She tried to take a step forward but raised a tentative wave instead with a friendly grin.

He nodded at her, then continued to the kitchen with the bags.

Malia busied herself putting things away as to avoid the conversation.

Scott turned back to us with curious eyes. "What's going on?"

No one said anything.

"Why are you all acting so weird?" He demanded.

Kira took the initiative, not afraid to be the barrier of bad news. "We've got something to show you." She grabbed my phone and handed it over.

Malia and I met eyes and I shook my head slightly to let her know that it wasn't good.

She gave a nod, then finished putting everything away.

Scott sat in a chair watched the video a few times in silence, enough that his impassiveness was frightening. We were all waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Malia looked over his shoulder as he watched it again. "Have you had any luck making it any clearer?" She asked Lydia.

She nodded. "I'm still working on it." She typed away on her phone.

Scott stood, handed the phone to me, then rushed Theo who stood at the opposite end of the room.

"Shit." Malia cursed.

We looked at each other and went after him.

His fists had pummeled into Theo's face relentlessly.

The worst part was that Theo didn't even try to block his blows. He just laid there and let it happen.

We pulled Scott off with our combined strength.

His growl echoed through the apartment.

Malia made him face her to try and calm him down while I grabbed Theo and pulled him across the room.

Kira and Lydia helped stood in front of us protectively.

Scott snapped and clawed his way for us.

Stiles and Allison raced to help hold him back.

He easily swept them out of the way. Fur had started to take over his face and his claws elongated.

Malia pushed her way in front of him. "Scott, I know that you're upset, but you can't do anything rash."

He sidestepped her.

She stepped in his way. "You can't overreact. You have to calm down. You're becoming the monster. You'll regret hurting him."

His nostrils flared. "I don't want to hurt him. I want to kill him." He growled.

Malia grabbed ahold of his shoulders. "You can't kill him. We can work this out." She urged with total faith in him. Her gaze turned cobalt blue. "This isn't you, Scott. Don't become this person."

He stared at her in indecision, then started for Theo.

She grabbed a hold of his face on either side. "It wasn't his fault." She urged, desperation in her eyes. "If you kill him now then there goes our chance at having the upper hand against Deucalion, the real killer."

His transformation stopped and he faltered. He looked at Malia with brown eyes that were about to crack.

"Your mom wouldn't want you to be this person." She insisted.

His eyes widened with the shininess of tears.

The moment he fell apart she caught him.

Knowing that this may be my only moment, I said, "Theo will stay with me until we can figure this out."

There was no way that he was going to stay here with Scott. A, I didn't think Scott could take it. B, I didn't want Scott to attack him again.

I dashed us for the door before he felt the urge to attack again. I helped him along as fast as I could. This happened to him because of me, because I couldn't keep my mouth shut about the video.

We stopped at an on-campus restroom to clean him up so he wouldn't have to walk across campus like a victim in a horror movie.

I made sure that the stalls were empty before locking the door. I wet some paper towels to wipe the blood off his face, I pushed him against the sinks. He was hard to look at.

His eyes scanned my face and at this capacity, it was hard not to meet his gaze. His hand grabbed mine to pause my motions, but my skin came aflame under his. "Thank you." He croaked out.

My eyes lowered, I shook my head. "You shouldn't be thanking me."

His hand tightened around mine. "I needed that, Liam. To move forward." His blackened eyes that already began to heal turned heavy with gratitude. "So thank you."

Too afraid to speak, I simply nodded.

SCOTT'S POV:

Malia held me as I cried on the floor. I couldn't make my legs work. I couldn't care about anyone else right now. My heart hurt for my mom. She was dead because Deucalion wanted her and some goons got to her first.

Anger still lingered inside of me, but I felt too broken to do anything about it. Malia holding me was possibly the only thing keeping me sane.

"Maybe you guys should go," Stiles said to the girls.

Feet shuffled for the door.

"Wait," Lydia called. "Malia, you need to see this." She ran the video over and skipped to the part of inquiry.

It played and Kira and Malia froze.

I didn't understand.

Malia grabbed the phone, rewind the video, and let it play. Tears filled her eyes that slipped over. Her chin trembled. "Kylie." She looked at her friends. "Deucalion has Kylie." The fear of what he had done to her was evident in her voice, fear that he had done the same thing to her as he had to Kira.

"I thought you said she died," I asked without tact.

She stared at the phone. "I thought she did." She dropped it then fell into my arms.

I wasn't done grieving by a long shot, but I knew that I had to be the tough one for her now. She just found out that her sister was alive after years of thinking her gone forever. I knew that my mom was dead, that wasn't going to change. I could cry myself to sleep if I needed to. We both couldn't be a mess at the same time, one of us had to hold the other up.

My arms protected her from what I hoped was any further harm while she cried into my neck.

"We're going to go," Stiles announced.

I met his eyes.

He looked at a loss. "If you need anything call us."

I nodded. "Thank you." I mouthed.

They found their way out.

My arms tightened around her body.

Her sobs filled the air and it hurt knowing that there was nothing I could do about it. All I knew to do was be there for her.

Once her tears dried up I went to put on a kettle of water.

She leaned against the counter. "I don't know what to say." Her red-eyed gaze fell well below mine.

"You don't have to say anything," I pulled her back in a hug and held her to me. "We'll fix this. We'll get her back."

She nodded against my chest. "Can I stay here tonight?"

"You don't even have to ask," I said into her hair.

We stayed like that until the kettle whistled that it was done. I poured us some hot water over tea bags.

She took it gratefully and sipped. Her eyes finally met mine. "If he's touched her..." Protectiveness, disgust, and rage mixed in her brown eyes. "I'll kill him. And if anyone gets in my way I'll kill them, too." Her voice a calm breeze that sent chills across my skin.

But I understood.

I nodded. "Together."

We stared at each other, knowing we were a far cry from being sane about this, but we lost that battle when Deucalion took our loved ones away from us.

While I washed my hands at the bathroom sink there was a knock on my door.

Malia answered it.

I recognized the scent and rushed out to find my dad at the entrance. I pulled Malia into my side and turned so that there was distance between him and her.

"Scott," He greeted nervously.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded.

He licked his lips. "I came to talk about what happened at dinner the other night." He gestured between Malia and I. "I didn't mean to interrupt something. Is this Malia? You finally asked her to be your girlfriend," He gave a light grin.

We both stilled.

My eyes closed. "Dad," I complained.

Malia's eyes burned into the side of my face until I looked at her. Her eyes wanted mine to confirm if what he said was true. When they did she looked shocked by the news.

I looked back to my dad.

He looked awkwardly optimistic. "Can I come in?"

A/N: Thanks for reading! I wanted to say for future reference because it never fails that there's a person that doesn't leave comments and they don't like the direction the story is going then and complain about it. I'm letting yall know if that's you, it's your fault that you don't like it because I always ask yall to let me know how yall like the flow of things and give me suggestions. A handful of yall does so thanks. Even if you don't like it I want to know so I can improve things, but if you don't speak up then there's nothing I can do about that. Don't forget to check out my friend's Scalia fic: Smoke and Mirrors by Etherealmindss on here and leave her feedback if you're willing :)


	8. You There

The song for this chapter is Aquilo - You There

SCOTT'S POV:

"Can I come in?" My dad asked.

Could he come in? He was here at my apartment and he wanted to come inside to talk. Today had already been one of the worst in my life. The only reason it had been bearable was because of Malia. Take her away from the course of events and I didn't know how I would've handled things.

"Scott?" He called me back to attention.

Malia's hand came to my shoulder and squeezed.

I turned to her.

Her eyes heavily implied that I should let him in.

So I did.

I cleared my throat and moved us out of the way. "Yeah, sure."

Malia pulled away and gathered her bag from the table by the door. She met my eyes, her thumb pointed toward the door. "I'm going to go. Give you guys time alone." She was clearly uncomfortable being here with him, which was probably my fault.

I didn't want her to go, but I also didn't want him to hurt her like he hurt me.

"No, please." My dad stepped in. "Stay. I'd like to get to know you." He offered a friendly smile. "Scott has told me a bit about you, more than I've heard about any girl really."

Heat rushed to my face. My hand ran down it.

"Dad, we're just friends."

He looked between us, then settled on her for confirmation.

She pointed at me. "What he said."

He made a face that clearly meant he didn't believe that. He held out a hand. "I'm Rafael McCall. You can call me Raf if you'd like."

She glanced at me before she shook his hand. "I'm Malia. You can call me Malia." Her tone cordial, but I could tell she had a wall up against him. Good.

I tried to hide my smile because she didn't tell him he could call her Lia.

We all stood there in awkward silence.

"We should sit." I spoke.

"I was just about to suggest that," He said.

"Yeah, same." Malia replied.

My dad sat in a chair adjacent to the couch that Malia and I sat on.

"So," He coughed to clear his throat. "Malia, how'd you two meet?"

I was already regretting this.

She crossed her legs and started, "Well, we have a class together, but he was spying on one of my private music sessions and it kind of went from there."

My brow rose. "You knew I was listening before you came outside?"

"Of course." She glanced at me, then back at my dad. "I don't know if Scott told you, but I'm a Werecoyote." Her eyes flashed blue for a few seconds then returned to the chestnut brown that kept me up at night.

A small smile sat on my face at the shock on my dad's face. I hadn't told him.

He nodded with a smile. "Now I know." He looked at me. "What else haven't you told me?" His tone light.

I leaned forward on my knees. "That I officially quit Lacrosse. And I don't know what I want to do, but I don't feel like I'm walking through cement anymore." My eyes went to Malia in gratitude.

Her eyes crinkled as she gave a dimpled grin.

I looked back at my dad. "I know what mom would've wanted for me and it wasn't that." I huffed. "I don't want you to sell the house, that's the only thing that I have left of her. I'm sorry about running away at dinner, but every time I look at you I see not mom."

Her hand went to my back to rub calming circles that made all the difference.

He nodded with the new information and said, "I get it. I wasn't around and you blame me for it. Honestly, I'd blame me, too."

With this new information that Deucalion's goons killed my mom I shouldn't blame my dad for that anymore, but if he had been there maybe she would've had a chance. Malia's words etched into my mind from the other day. _You know what, I'm so sick of you blaming someone else for your problems._

With great struggle, I admitted, "It wasn't your fault." Saying the words chipped away at the hatred that I had for him.

Malia's hand stilled on my back.

My dad's eyes turned shiny. "Thank you for saying that. I know it was hard for you."

I nodded. My hand went to Malia's knee. "I'm trying to move forward. If I have to make things work with you then I guess that's what I have to do." Nerves rattled in my stomach. This felt like too much too soon, but there wasn't going to be a perfect time to get over my quote on quote daddy issues if I didn't just do it.

Malia leaned close to whisper into my ear. "I'm going to go shower. Be nice." She rose from the couch and headed for my room to grab a change of my clothes, then started for the bathroom.

My dad rose from the chair and came to sit by me. "Son, I know that I haven't been much a father and that's on me and you're grown now so you don't need me like that anymore, but I want-"

"I need you," I admitted. Fresh tears stung my eyes. I turned to him. "I've always needed you, dad."

"But you said that-"

"I know what I said." I cut him off again. "I was angry and being childish." A few tears slipped out of my eyes. "But I do need you. I don't think I can do this all alone."

He pulled me to him for a hug and I broke like a water dam. "You don't have to." He reassured his voice heavy with regret and sorrow.

We talked for a bit, long enough that it made me feel better about things, long enough that Malia was in the shower. We still had a lot to talk about, but for now, it could wait.

He suggested we order Chinese. I ordered for Malia, which I hoped wouldn't make her upset. I wasn't trying to control her, I just remember what she had the other night when we binged _The 100_.

We had turned on the TV by the time Malia had come out of the shower.

I could tell my dad was shocked by her wearing my Lax sweatshirt and a pair of shorts she left in one of my drawers by the slack look on his face. I almost laughed.

He caught my gaze, his eyes said what I already knew; that Malia and I weren't just friends.

She pattered toward the fridge, her wet hair down by her shoulders. "Did you ask for extra soy sauce?" She bent over to look for something, her black spandex shorts were practically glued to her ass.

I caught my dad looking and I kicked his foot hard.

He gave an apologetic grimace, then focused on the television or tried to.

She turned back with a coconut water I bought, her brow lifted as she waited for my answer.

"Uh, yeah." I stood. "I'm going to take a shower." I looked to my dad. "Be good."

He raised his hands cautiously.

She met me halfway and leaned into my side. "You do realize I'm about to third-degree your dad on everything about you, right?" She said low enough for only me to hear.

I was distracted by her rosy cheeks and wet lashes to care what she said. She looked so pretty bare faced and in my clothing.

"Scott," She called me back to attention.

"Yeah," I waved it off. "Just don't flirt with my dad." I half joked.

She glanced back at him. "No promises, he's kinda hot."

I knew she was joking, but I still felt the need to slam her against the wall and make her cry out my name into submission as I slid inside her.

Her eyes glowed sky blue with the knowledge of my thoughts.

I backed her into my room and into the wall, my body hard against hers. My forehead pressed into hers as I leaned my mouth towards the pink lips I wanted to be wrapped around my cock.

"Don't flirt with my dad," I pressed my hips into hers, my mouth hovered a hair away from hers. "Is that clear?"

Her heart pounded in her chest, her breathing quickened. "Yes, sir." The coconut water forgotten on the floor.

If there wasn't a chance she could get pregnant right now or that my dad wasn't in the other room I'd totally wrap her legs around my hips and pump into her. And she'd let me.

I backed away smugly to yank off my shirt and turn from her to get fresh clothes from my closet.

"You're such a tease." She whispered as she stared after me.

I winked at her.

She turned around and bent down to get the carton of coconut water, her shapely legs and ass on display for me. She stood with a whip of her brown hair.

"I'm going to remember that for next time." I promised.

With a smirk, she bit her lip as she backed out of the room.

I gathered some clothes, then headed for the bathroom.

MALIA'S POV:

I couldn't believe that I was sitting on the couch with Scott's dad and we were watching TV like it was the most normal thing ever.

I turned to him with a smile knowing he was full of trade secrets.

He offered one back. "You want to know about Scott?"

"How'd you know?"

"You two seem pretty cozy, it's not a stretch." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a badge. "And I'm an FBI agent. I kind of see everything."

My brow arched. "You're a Narc, huh?"

He grinned. "No, not quite." He turned his dark eyes on me, eyes that resembled Scott's. "I can see that you two care about each other and as someone that had a kid sooner than expected, be careful."

"So you didn't plan for Scott. Was that why you weren't there for him?"

He looked taken aback by my bluntness but answered. "Partly. I wasn't ready. And I know that the both of you aren't so please be careful."

Scott and I weren't stupid, but in the same token, we hadn't used protection. I started my period already so there was no need to worry, but what if I hadn't started it. We'd have to deal with possibly having a child together. We were nowhere near ready for that.

From the look on my face, he sighed. "I see I have to have a talk with my son."

My cheeks filled with color. "Please, don't. We'll be more careful." I didn't want him to wear a condemn, I just wanted to feel him in me. But taking it raw or having a baby, I'd make the compromise.

He nodded. "For what it's worth, I think that you've been a good influence on him."

My forehead crease. "How so?"

He turned more toward me. "Him quitting Lacrosse, I don't think he came to that conclusion on his own." He pulled out his phone and went to a clip of the news report we were on earlier. Then he played a video of my beating up the racist after he called Scott an illegal and a wetback.

My lips pursed in thought. "So that..." I looked at him. "Was exactly what it looked like. Yeah, I beat that guy up." I admitted shamelessly.

He held his fist out with a pleased grin on his face. "Thank you for standing up for him."

I touched my fist to his. "That guy's lucky we were in public or the claws would've come out." I demonstrated the motion.

His eyes widened a bit, but he didn't seem surprised. He gave a tiny laugh. "I hope Scott can handle you, darling."

There was a knock on the door. Our Chinese was here.

"He's taking it one step at a time." I played along.

He paid the delivery guy and spread the food out on the table.

"Thank you." I said to him.

He shrugged like it didn't mean much in a way that reminded me of Scott. "It was my pleasure."

I really hadn't eaten anything all day so I didn't have the patience to wait for Scott to get out of the shower and get dressed, so I dug into the food.

Raf gave me a look of approval. "My kind of woman." He said teasingly.

I pointed toward the sweet and sour chicken and Lo Mein I had in my lap. "This is delicious." I said around a mouthful of food.

He laughed. "I'm glad you like it."

I turned my whole body toward him, my legs propped on the space between us. "So what was Scott like as a kid?"

He swallowed his food, went through his phone until he found what he was looking for. "So cute. The sweetest kid. He wasn't really a bratty kid." He handed over the phone.

My eyes widened at baby Scott as I took the phone. "Oh my God," My voice went up a few octaves the way girls did when they saw a baby animal or in fact a baby.

Baby Scott was literally the cutest thing I've ever seen. He was so innocent and fat-cheeked. I wanted to squeeze his cheeks.

I immediately sent it to myself.

"There's a bunch in there." He encouraged.

There was one when he was missing his front two teeth and cheesing at the camera in a Luke Skywalker Halloween costume. "Ammo for later." I sent it to my phone.

Luke Skywalker. _Star Wars_. It rang important in my mind, but I couldn't figure out what for.

I handed him back his phone. "What was it like? Having him and realizing what he'd become?"

He chewed on it. "Like any parent would be, I was disappointed. Not in him," He shook his head. "In the life he'd have to live. It wouldn't be normal, which is what every parent wants for their child. There wasn't an option of accepting it, I had to. Even when I wasn't in his life I knew what he was doing, I checked on him often." Pride shined in his chocolate brown eyes, pride only a parent could have. "It is because of the bite he grew into the man he is today and I wouldn't change a thing about him." He gestured to me. "Much like how I imagine your dad feels."

A bit of shame picked at my heart. I looked down. "My adoptive dad loves me to the moon and back without question. My real dad...we're trying to mend what was broken. He wasn't a great person, still isn't at times, but he's trying." I chewed on my bottom lip in nerves. "But I'm finding it harder to trust him. He was the one that bit Scott and set all of this in motion."

He stayed silent for a bit, then put a reassuring hand on my socked foot that should've felt out of place, but didn't. "If you learn anything from Scott and I learn that no father is perfect. We make mistakes and we do what we think is best for you even if that means staying out your life. Give Peter the chance to explain."

"I didn't say his name was Peter," I waited for him to explain himself.

He took his hand away with a light embarrassed chuckle. "I may have done a background check on you after Scott mentioned you. Had to make sure you checked out."

"Did I?" I popped some food into my mouth.

He nodded, checked his emails. "For the most part, but I can see how you feel about my son so I have no complaints."

Not having known Raf for a full hour I felt honored that he felt that way. I hadn't done much for him to.

Just then Scott came out of the bathroom. His hair was slick like it was the other night he disabled me to walk, his scent clung to his tan skin and filled my nose and went straight to my pussy. He wore a grey shirt and black Lax sweats.

If his dad hadn't been there and I hadn't been on my cycle I would've gotten to my knees and crawled to him until I could get a taste of him in my mouth. But his dad was here so I stayed put.

He grabbed his food and came to sit between us, he picked up my legs and placed them over his lap, then rested a warm, thick hand on the skin. He wanted his dad to know that I was off limits like it was even a choice. Men and being territorial.

Being abusive with it was one thing I was not up for, but Scott wanting men to know I wasn't available was kind of hot. The feminist in me should roll her eyes, but this went beyond simple values. This was biological, something that couldn't be ignored with the animals in us.

I tried to hide my grin.

"Thanks for the food, dad." He said.

"I'm glad you're actually eating this." His dad joked.

I snorted a laugh.

They looked at me and laughed.

"On a serious note," Raf started. "The house. I'm turning it over to you if that's what you want?"

My eyes went to him for his reaction.

Scott sat there with the weight of his words on all of him. His shoulders looked visibly heavier, so did his eyes. His fingers lightly rubbed up and down at the skin on my calf. He nodded as if words couldn't work for him.

I looked at Raf to see that he understood.

He glanced at me, then back at Scott. "The house is the same. I haven't touched anything. I figured you'd want to go through things and see what needed to be given away or thrown out."

Before Scott said something he'd regret I piped in, "Or we could put it in storage." I suggested. My hand went to his shoulder and squeezed. "I'll help you on break if you'd like."

"I'd love that." He spoke.

That was the second time he had said something along the lines of love, the first time being at Walmart earlier. I didn't think he was aware that he was doing it or if he was he wasn't aware that it affected me. I knew he wasn't saying he was in love with me but that he had love for me, so really it shouldn't be a big deal, but it was.

Afraid that they'd see how affected by his words I was, I bite into my eggroll some more only to have some of the soy sauce at the bottom squirt out onto his Lax sweatshirt. I paused, my lips pressed together. I braved a glance at Scott with a mouthful of eggroll.

He looked at the stain, then met my eyes. A grin budded on his face that reached his eyes as he laughed. "Don't worry about it."

I tried to stay in this realm of light-heartedness but the reality of my sister's fate nagged at me. How was I going to get her out? Would she remember me or had Deucalion brainwashed her like he had Theo?

We watched a movie, but my heart and head weren't in it. After a while, I pulled my legs off Scott's lap to stand. I looked down at him. "I'm gonna head to bed."

He nodded.

I threw a half smile at Raf. "It was nice to meet you, thanks for the food."

"Anytime." He gave a wave.

I headed for the bedroom. Laying on the bed was like a breath of fresh air. I couldn't believe how good it felt yet how incredibly shitty I felt inside. There was a silver lining in all of this; it brought me my sister back. And I'd be lying if I said it hadn't brought me Scott. And Stiles. And Allison. Part of me wished I'd stayed in Virginia so I wouldn't have to feel any of this, but that would the coward's way out.

Unable to sleep, I went over to grab Scott's guitar and sat with my back against the side of the bed. My eyes fell to the night sky out the window. My fingers did the talking for me because I didn't know how to put what I felt into words so I played. The crescent moon gave me something to loathe. Without that one object, we'd cease to exist. Our problems would cease to exist.

Whatever time that had passed the other room grew quiet. The bedroom door opened and closed.

Scott came to sit next to me. He looked forward with me. "I hate it too sometimes."

I rested my head on his shoulder, the guitar clutched between my legs. I didn't want to let it go, I didn't want to let Kylie go.

He brought an arm around me. "It's okay if you want to cry or scream or punch me."

My head shook. "Can we just go to sleep?"

He took the guitar from my hands and helped me up, then lead me to bed.

I snuggled up against him, needing the contact more than I realized.

His arm held me to him like I'd roll away.

My head fit into the space between his arm and chest. My hand found his heart and rested there. I brought one of my legs in between his. "Thank you." I muttered.

He sighed in relief. "What are friends for?" There was a sadness in his voice about that but I didn't have the energy to talk about it now.

My eyes drifted shut to the sound of his beating heart and the thump it made against my hand.

KIRA'S POV:

Lydia and I settled into our room after the massive bomb drop of information. Not being a huge fan of Scott at first and I was still wary of him, but it was hard to deny what he was to her and her to him. They held each other up in a way I've never seen. Only in the movies.

In real life, men weren't like that. Scott McCall was the exception. Stiles, too. They should've been the rule, but when did things ever work out like they were supposed to?

Lydia placed my metal stress hand squeezer on the table in between our beds, her jade eyes told me to use it when needed. There wasn't any room for debate with her when it came to these sort of things. She'd start off cautiously with the hand squeezer, then go taking me out to the woods to scream at my heart's content, and then sleeping with me in the same bed with her hold around me tight the whole time. Those were the three stages. We'd been through them a lot. Malia didn't have the patience to do that, she wanted to make someone hurt for my pain as soon as she felt it.

I just wish she felt other things.

Not feeling like showering, I curled up into bed with the hand squeezer and tried not to think of the obvious truth of what happened to Kylie. Or better yet, what is happening to her. At some point, I fell asleep.

 _Fear ran through my veins as I sat in the corner of my bed, my covers over my small pre-teen body protectively, but I knew they wouldn't protect me from anything. Not from Him._

 _Deucalion was the "Uncle" the girls and I've always had. He loved us, taught us, prepared us._

 _But he touched me at night. Almost every night. He was quiet about it, he crept in and out like nothing ever happened and every time all I could do was lay here. He loved me, I knew that. So I should be okay with this because he loved me._

 _When the door creaked open my body stilled._

 _He locked eyes on me and grinned with hunger in his eyes, and closed the door behind him with a deafening lock. He stalked towards me as he began to remove his clothes an item at a time._

 _I know that if I didn't remove mine as well he'd hit me. So I took them off for him._

 _The moonlight highlighted his body as he neared. He licked his lips before pulling me down further onto the bed and putting his mouth on my private parts. His tongue was wet and controlling and it didn't feel good._

 _There's too much fear for it to feel good._

 _Once he was done licking me he stood with his huge man part in front of my face. "Open."_

 _I did._

 _He slipped it past my lips and into my throat._

I always wanted to throw up here. _He's too big for twelve-year-old's mouth. My jaw always ached after. I tried not to avoid eye contact during this part and he lets me because later he demands it._

 _Then the part that always hurt no matter that he licked me down there, he shoved his manhood into me with a lustful grunt. His eyes glowed red while he hunched over my weak body. His hips slammed into mine._

 _"Come on, baby." He whispered into my ear. "I know you like it. You're so wet for me, Kira." He bit_ _his lip. "Young tight pussy." He slammed into me, one hand on my hip the other on my breast._

 _I muffled my cry. My eyes closed on their own._

 _"Look at me," He demanded, Alpha authority in his voice._

 _My eyes opened with the knowledge I had to obey him._

 _"You'll never let anyone else do this to you, right?"_

 _Tears stung my eyes, but I knew not to cry in front of him. It only made him angry when he was doing this to me. So I nodded._

 _He groaned, then leaned his mouth down to my neck for sloppy wet kisses until he forced his tongue into my mouth._

 _I kissed him back because there was a slap in the face waiting for me if I didn't._

 _His motions grew faster._

 _A tear leaked out from my closed eyes from the pain, from the embarrassment, from the helplessness. I quickly wiped it away._

 _He slipped out, not because he was done, but because he wanted to put it in my butt. He flipped me over and did just that._

 _With my face in the pillow_ _I could silently cry. This was the worst part. It wasn't wet back there, it always burned. I cried out for help once or twice for Malia and Lydia_ L, _but he had punched me in the ribs until I shut up. I didn't do that anymore._

 _Did every twelve-year_ - _olds go through this or was it just me?_

 _His rough hands grabbed my butt cheeks as he rammed into me mercilessly. His mouth trailed kisses down my shoulder and back as if out of love. But this part_ wasn't love _. He bit into my neck as he pounded away, then his mouth went to my ear. "If I could fuck your ass forever I would." He moaned. "God, it's so tight for me, baby." He sucked on my earlobe then bit it like it was supposed to bring me pleasure._

 _My body bounced on the bed, knowing that soon it would be over for the night. Until the following night._

 _His manly grunts filled my ear while his sweat dripped on me. "Tell me you like my cock in your ass, Kira."_

 _My head turned so I could speak. "I like your cock in my ass." Shame washed over me._

 _He stiffened. "Say it again."_

 _"I like your cock in my ass." My jaw clenched._

 _"Ohh, I'm gonna cum all up in that tight ass." He slammed into me one last time until his hot seed filled my bowels._

 _He laid_ _his full weight on me until he caught his breath, then he got up and got dressed like nothing happened. He squatted by the bed to face me. His hand went to my cheek. "You know I love you, right?"_

 _I nodded because he did in some form._

 _"This is going to stay our secret, right?"_

 _I nodded again._

 _He grinned. "Good." He stood. "Sweet dreams." He planted an almost fatherly kiss on my forehead, then smoothed my sweaty hair back before he left me alone to cope with the aftermath._

 _I did what I always did. I curled into myself and wept in silence until the exhaustion made me pass out._

 _My door opened again. Fear held me captive again._

 _A young girl tipped inside and got into the bed across from mine._

 _I stood. "What are you doing here?" I asked her._

 _Her brown hair and eyes rang familiar and I knew why. It was Kylie._

 _She sat in the corner of her bed much like I had mine until the door creaked open again. Deucalion slid inside and locked the door. He stared at her like she was his main course while he stripped of his clothes._

 _She did the same and waited for him to climb on top of her like he had me._

 _He went down on her, even fingered her and licked her ass for more prep._

 _I stood, knocked out of the frozen state of shock I'd been it. I went to knock him off of her, but it was like my touch didn't phase him_ , _like it wouldn't change anything._

 _He didn't put his cock into her mouth, he went straight for her assumably_ _fourteen-year-old pussy and went to town. He said his same old lines. Did his same old tricks while I watched in horror._

 _"Stop," I smacked at his back, but nothing changed. My eyes clouded with heavy tears. "Stop it," I looked to her with lack of emotion in her eyes and I cried harder._ "Please. _" I screamed. "Help me!" I relentlessly beat at_ _his back with nothing affecting him. "Somebody help me!" I struck him with my lightning, but again it didn't work. I looked to her. "Fight back." I shook her shoulder. "Come on, please."_

 _When nothing changed and he went to fuck her ass I crumbled to the floor. Helplessness filled me to the brim. There was nothing I could do to change what happened to me. There was nothing I could do to change what happened to Kylie. What was probably still happening to_ her.

 _All I could do was pull my legs to my chest and rock myself, my face thick with tears. "It's_ okay. _" I told myself. He loves her. He loved me. It was okay. It had to be. Because if it wasn't I would scream and I'd never stop._

 _"Kira!"_

My mind grasped at the escape from this real life nightmare.

Hands shook me awake. "Kira,"

My mind snapped open and I shot up in bed.

Lydia sat beside me, her eyes wild and full of concern. She smoothed away my sweaty hair.

My hand slapped hers away, too reminiscent of Deucalion.

"You were screaming."

I caught my breath, my eyes scanned the room.

There was a knock on the door.

She ran to answer it.

Stiles and Allison stood in the doorway, both pair of eyes filled with concern.

Allison's eyes scrunched at me without her glasses. She somehow knew what had happened without Lydia having to tell her a word, which I guess she had to at some point when I wasn't around. She flew to my bed and pulled me into a hug and winced, but didn't pull away.

"What happened?" I heard Stiles ask, his tone apprehensive. He scanned the room for a threat.

"Let's talk outside." She pulled him toward the door.

Allison rocked me back and forth wordlessly.

I didn't have to say anything, but my eyes welled up at the gesture and contact that I needed so badly right now. What I wanted was Malia. But she was with Scott. Anger that he didn't deserve rose in me and I had to hit something.

I jumped off the bed out of Allison's grasp and shot for the door, which interrupted Stiles and Lydia's conversation. I started for the stairs down the hall.

"Where are you going?" Allison asked.

They followed behind me.

"To the woods." Lydia supplied.

We got there without another word spoken, the need to let out my frustrations cooked in me. Some might say I was a raging bitch that was unnecessary, they were right. A lot of the time I didn't feel necessary. I didn't feel like I was essential to how things played out. If I were gone would things really be that different? Would anyone notice?

If I were gone, not just from my friend's lives, but from mine, too, would things be better? This thought occurred to me way too often, but like always I hide it behind the anger that flared in male presence. I hide it behind the anger that flared when Scott took Malia from me. I hide it behind the anger that flared because Malia didn't see how I felt about her and I couldn't ever tell her.

The deeper we went into the woods the more riled up I felt until my fist flew into a tree of its choice. Lightning crackled in the sky. The sting of flesh and bone hitting a hard surface felt liberating. So my other fist knocked into the wood of the tree. Over and over again until the nightmare started to fade, until the horrible truth started to fade, but it would never really be gone.

Stiles came into view, his honey eyes full of understanding. He stepped in front of me.

I stumbled back a bit, not wanting to strike him with my bloodied knuckles.

He moved toward me. "Hit me."

"What?" I asked breathlessly.

"Go ahead. Pretend I'm him."

My head shook. "No,"

He pushed my shoulder. "Come on, hit me." He shoved me back.

"Stiles, stop it." I moved away from him, full of adrenaline. My hands already itched to get back to the rough skin of the tree.

He got in my way again. "I'm a man. You want to hurt me, so go ahead." He kicked at my leg.

On instinct, I attacked him with a battlecry. With his permission I laid my fists into him only enough that it took the edge off then I fell off of him in remorse. He hadn't done anything wrong. It wasn't his fault.

His eyes met mine as he neared me cautiously on his knees.

I glanced around at the girls in horror. What did I do?

He wasn't banged up too badly, but enough to notice. Enough that he didn't deserve any of it. So why did he egg me on to hurt him?

Lydia came down to my side. "It's okay if you want to scream."

I looked at Allison, at Lydia, and at Stiles. Pity sat in their eyes. I hated that look. I hated people having to feel sorry for me for something that was out of my control.

So I let the emotions that stirred inside of me out with a testing scream until it organically progressed into one that rang of the things in my heart, body, and mind.

Allison fell into place beside me with a yell of her soul.

Lydia and Stiles locked eyes and joined in on their own accord. I guess they too had demons of their own.

When we were all yelled out we just laid there under the moonlight and stars with the remaining quiet of the woods, nothing but the fast breathing of our lungs to connect us.

LIAM'S POV:

Bringing Theo back to my dorm wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be, but my concerned roommate happened as soon we walked through the door.

"Woah, what happened to him?" Mason asked.

Instead of answering him I said, "You remember Theo? He's going to be staying with us for a while," I left no room for debate.

"Yeah," Mason looked between us. "Sure. Okay. Do you need anything?" He rose from his bed.

Theo's head shook. "No," His eyes strayed from meeting anyone's. "Thank you though."

Mason looked to me. "Can I talk to you outside?"

I nodded and headed for the door, with a look back. "I don't know if any of my clothes will fit, but you can try them on." I offered, then followed Mason into the hall.

We moved a few feet down to talk in private in Mason's mind, but Theo could hear us without having to try.

"Do you want to tell me what happened to him?"

My arms propped on my hips. "It's kind of private. It's going to be handled..." I didn't know what to say because Mason didn't know the horrid details of my new life yet. He was only my roommate I didn't feel the need to tell him because in less than a year we'd go our separate ways with possible half waves across campus.

He gestured at the door. "Look, I don't need to know all your business and I don't mind him staying here, but if you're into something I should know about then maybe I should know about it." His tone curious.

My head shook. "No,"

His kind eyes detected my lie, but he didn't voice it. "We don't know each other that well, that's fine, but if you ever need to talk about things I'm here."

"I hear you, thanks. Same."

He nodded, then pointed toward the room. "And if you ever need the room to be alone with him shoot me a text."

My lips pursed together, a light blush colored my cheeks. "That's not gonna happen."

His dark brow arched. "Are you sure?"

My head shook. "No,"

When we went back inside Theo was standing by my dresser with a shirt in his hands. "Liam," He stretched out the shirt. "These no fit."

I stepped forward, my eyes on his bare chest. "Then try another one,"

"Or not," Mason muttered.

I looked over at him to find him drooling just about and I laughed. "Maybe if we staple two of our shirts together you'll be able to fit it." I joked.

He gave a tight grin then folded my shirt back into the drawer. "I'll just sleep in my underwear." He discarded of his jeans. His eyes found mine. "Who am I sleeping with tonight?"

Mason and I took him in, muscles thick and demanding. He didn't have to be able to sense our emotions to know that he had us primed and ready.

A sexy smirk played on his lips. "I can go either way."

My finger rose. "You can sleep in my bed. I'll sleep on the futon." I assured.

"You can sleep in your bed."

My eyebrows rose. "With you in it?"

He nodded. "Kind of the idea."

Nerves danced in my stomach. "No," I shook my head. "I don't think that's a good idea?"

He cracked a grin that still looked good on him black and blue. "You know where I'll be,"

I kind of just stood there in awkwardness.

Mason nodded toward the bed with a sly grin, his eyes suggestive.

My head shook. I made my way over to the couch and got settled.

Honestly, it was uncomfortable to try and fall asleep on when you knew you had a perfectly good bed, but the fact of the matter was college beds were Twin XL's. Theo was a big guy. I could fit on there decently, but him by himself seemed pushing it. Nevermind the both of us on there. There would have to be a good amount of contact to comfortably fit on there. Either we'd spoon, obviously I'd be the little spoon, or someone was getting side humped while the other laid flat on his back.

That was a lot of pressure, especially with Mason in the room. So I stayed put, even if there was a better, hotter option that would gladly give me a handjob once Mason fell asleep.

MALIA'S POV:

The next morning I woke up before Scott did, so I was able to watch him peacefully. Creepily enough, it calmed me. Or at least took my mind off of Kylie being held prisoner with that abusive jackass.

My fingers lightly traced patterns into his chest, he had shed his shirt in his sleep. This probably wasn't helping the friends deal we made, but hey, there was no sex to be had for a few more days so we were good.

I stopped my designs and rested my hand over his heart. My eyes closed as I listened to it lull me back to sleep.

However long had passed between the time I woke up earlier and my nap the apartment was filled with the smell of breakfast.

I stretched in bed, then went to join him in the kitchen.

He turned at the sound of my arrival, a streak of flour on his cheek. He turned back to flip the pancake with the golden brown side up. "Morning,"

"Morning," I came to wrap my arms around his front.

He chuckled, his hand placed over mine. "Are you hungry?"

I nodded against his back. "I'm always hungry."

He turned so that I was tucked into his side. "How'd you sleep?"

"Perfect. I forgot how much I love your bed."

"Well, you're welcome anytime."

I grinned at the invitation.

He gave me a look. "You know what I mean." He settled an arm around my shoulders. "Lydia called. She told me to tell you to meet them at their room whenever you're ready. I told them you'd have to eat first."

I made a noise of approval. "Thanks." I reached over to grab a piece of bacon off the plate and popped it into my mouth, then reached up to wipe off the flour from his perfect skin.

He leaned down and took a bite off the piece of bacon in my mouth.

We chewed in between our laughter.

He leaned down to press his lips to mine.

If he hadn't been holding onto me I might've tilted to the side, my knees weakened by the feel of his mouth on mine.

He grinned against my mouth at the weight I put on him.

My eyes opened to stare at him. My mind went back to when we first met and refused to kiss each other with the knowledge that it would change that status of our feelings toward each other, deepen them. It definitely deepened mine. When he kissed me that day for the first time I didn't know what hit me. All I knew was that I wanted more and it didn't feel like it was the right time to have it.

"I suppose that was a friend kiss?" I asked.

"Sure," His tone evident that he didn't want that label, but he'd go along with it. For me.

Now wasn't the right time either, which brought something else to my mind.

He moved to flip his pancake.

I pulled away, trying to figure out how to approach the subject without getting into an argument.

He fixed our plates while I made two glasses of vanilla almond milk. We carried our food to the couch and settled in.

"Thank you for the food," I muttered in between bites.

His gaze felt heavy on me.

I looked up.

"What do you want to ask me?"

I took a sip of the milk, then turned to him a little. "About what your dad said,"

His head tilted back a bit. "Ah," He looked at me. "I was wondering when you'd ask about that."

My mouth pressed together then I said, "You were going to ask me to be your girlfriend," I couldn't help the slight smile on my face. Even if I weren't going to say yes it was still sweet.

He nodded. "Yeah, sort of. Then you left and now we're here."

I nodded and leaned forward. "I'm sorry."

His hand grabbed mine. "No, it's okay. You did what you had to do. And I like where we're at. Granted, I want more. That's not a secret."

SCOTT'S POV:

"I want more, too. But...things are complicated right now. I like that we're getting to know each other better. I mean, I felt like I already knew you, but now I know more tiny details." She reached for her phone and pulled up something. "Like this," She turned the screen so I could see a picture of me from a bunch of Halloween's ago.

Color hit my cheeks. I reached for the phone as I cursed my dad.

She pulled it out of reach. "You look so adorable."

I reached forward. "I don't have front teeth."

She laughed as she held it further back.

My brow rose. I crawled over to her knowing her body would respond.

Her eyes held a lusty intrigue when I neared. They told me she'd be okay submitting to me time and again, only in the bedroom.

I lowered my mouth the sensitive skin of her neck to get a taste to distract her while I stretched for the phone.

Her breathless curse-filled me with male pride.

I moved my lips to her collarbone.

Then I heard the sound of a click.

I looked up to see she had locked the phone, a smirk on her beautiful face. She laughed at the disappointed look on my face.

"Seduction as a distraction only works if you're a girl. We can mentally multitask during anything." She lightly pushed me off of her. "And you're not smarter than me, McCall." A grin danced on her face.

I nodded. "Can't argue there," I had no shame in admitting it. I wasn't dumb by any means, I was in all Honors classes in high school. There wasn't enough time to be in all AP. As a result, my education was left on the back burner to make sure we all survived. Even then we all didn't, but we did the best we could.

She rose from the couch. "How about when I get back we watch _The 100_?" She perked up.

"Promising." I agreed. "Let's do it."

She shed my Lax stained sweatshirt with no bra on her way to my room. "I'll have this dry cleaned."

I waited by the door. "It's not a big deal. You can have it if you want."

She peeped her head around the corner. "It wasn't like you were getting it back anyway." Her dimples popped out.

I couldn't help but smile at her. She was the cutest. "I could eat you."

Her brow quirked up and her mouth dropped. Desire sat in her eyes. "Raincheck." She slipped away, then walked out a minute later with one of my band t-shirts on that barely covered her spandex shorts that exposed her sculpted caramel legs.

The man in me didn't want other guys to see her like that. It wasn't entirely too different than what she usually wore, but those shorts left nothing to the imagination. I reminded myself that we weren't dating and even if we were I couldn't control what she wore. So I bit my tongue and mentally repeated that she could handle herself better than I could. And I knew she only flirted with that guy in Walmart yesterday to get a rise out of me for not inviting her to my pack, which was another conversation we had to have. She wouldn't entertain other guys or girls flirting with her.

Would she?

MALIA'S POV:

I watched the girl's eyes widen at my outfit when I entered their room.

Lydia flipped her hair over her shoulder on her way to the bathroom. "You look cute."

"Thanks." I closed the door behind me. I joined Kira on the couch.

She eyed me warily, then looked away to prop one leg on the other. "Scott's shirt?"

I nodded.

She placed a hand on the ankle that was rested on her other knee. "Looks good on you."

My hand playfully shoved her shoulder. "Is that a compliment coming from you regarding Scott?" I grinned.

She waved it off with a blush. "Eat me, Tate." She joked, her tone teasingly callous.

I chuckled. "What's going on?"

Lydia peered around from the toilet as she peed. "Do you not want to talk about what happened yesterday? And we're not just talking about Kylie."

For a second I forgot that it had been local news.

I blew out a breath. "There's not really much to say."

Kira half glanced at me. "Girl, you're all over social media. And it's not just the that. The video of you fem handling that athlete in the dining hall is everywhere."

My shoulders shrugged. "This doesn't seem like a problem. If anything it'll get more eyes on us so it'll be harder for Deucalion to come at us. Any of us." I gestured a hand forward. "And if young girls see that and it empowers them to stand up for themselves and anyone else then good."

They nodded.

Kira placed a hand on my knee as she turned her dark eyes on me. "I know it doesn't seem like it often, but I'm proud of you. We're proud of you."

My hand grabbed hers and squeezed. My chest warmed. "Thank you for saying that. I know you're just trying to protect me."

Her gaze went down to her hands and she slid hers away with a look toward the wall.

"Just because Scott wants me to be his girlfriend doesn't mean it's going to happen." I said even though I knew at some point things would progress to the next step. I didn't know about being his girlfriend though. That label made me uncomfortable.

Lydia grinned at me. "He asked you?"

I shrugged. "Hmm, not exactly. His dad came by after you guys left. It was actually really nice, a good distraction. He said they talked about it at their dinner the other day when I moved in here. The sad part is that I don't think Scott was going to ask me because of where we stand."

Kira huffed, her uncomfortability with the subject showed. "Speaking of, when are you going to come back?"

"Tonight, I promise. It just felt better to stay there last night." I reasoned. With a huff, I breached the subject I announced, "I'm going to get Kylie,"

Kira turned her head toward me, annoyance definitely in her eyes. "Is your Alpha going to let you do this on your own?"

Taken back I fired back, "Scott doesn't own me." Defiance rang in my voice.

Her brow rose in a challenge. "You sure?"

"Kira," Lydia warned when she wiped her hands off from washing them. She joined us in the chair across from the table.

"What?" Kira stared between us. "We both know as well as you do that the moment you met Scott you've been subservient. And it's more than some Alpha sexual tension dominance bullshit. You want him to be your Alpha. You want him to demand you around."

My patience broke. "So what if I do?" I almost yelled. "What business is it of yours? You swore off all men and I get it, Kira. I do. But Scott isn't Deucalion. He has an incredible amount of respect and trust for me. We talk. We fight. We handle things as they come. Together. What interaction have you had that hasn't been with gay guys and Scott or Stiles?"

"Malia!" Lydia scolded.

I stood to my feet, the couch moved against the carpeted floor. "No, I'm so sick of always taking the high road! Kira, you had a really shitty hand dealt to you. Guess what, we all did."

Her rage simmered in her eyes. "That's not even the same thing and you know it." She rose.

My hands slammed down on the table. "We all went through the same thing." I admitted for the first time. "Lydia and I just never talked about it." Hot tears flashed to my eyes as the brutal memories of the nights he came into my room and forced himself on me. I could still feel his rough hand over my mouth to keep me quiet because I wasn't as willing as the others. I could still hear Lydia's cries through the wall.

The heavy truth sat in the air between us, all of us afraid to meet each other's eyes.

Lydia ran to the bathroom and locked herself in there.

I couldn't stand any longer so I sat back on the couch.

Kira finally looked to me, her eyes sad and understanding. She reached a tentative hand forward on the table and rested it there. "You need to tell Scott," She shot up to knock on the bathroom door. "Open the door, Lydia."

Her cries carried through the room.

I couldn't think about shedding a tear because if I did I wouldn't stop.

Kira banged on the door harder. "Don't make me break down the door. Now open up."

"Just leave me alone. Please." Lydia begged.

With a huff, I left I knew who I had to get. "I'm going next door." I slipped out and knocked on the Argent's room door.

Allison answered with a grin on her face. She attacked me with a hug, her arms around my neck. She squeezed tightly.

"God, Allie." I hugged her back.

"Are you okay?" She demanded.

I could lie to her and tell her yes, but this was Allison so I didn't have to do that.

My head shook. "No, I'm not." My hold on her tightened.

Stiles rushed out of the bathroom and threw on a shirt when he saw me. "Malia," He joined in for a hug.

I pulled away after a few moments, my eyes met his. "You need to go over to their room. Lydia needs you."

His eyes widened and he looked down at Allison in question, then back up at me. "What's wrong?"

"She locked herself into the bathroom and won't come out. It's bad. I think she'll open up to you."

Allison put a hand on his arm. "Go!" She practically pushed him out the door. "I'll be over there once we're done here." She pulled me to her bed and we sat. "What happened?"

Without emoting, I told her the truth.

Like I knew she'd be, like I knew anyone would be, she was crushed.

She pulled me into an inhumanly tight hug while she did the crying for me. "I'm so sorry." She kept saying.

I rubbed her back because she needed the comfort. I wasn't going to break down. I couldn't. I had one more person to tell today.

After I felt like she was okay to be left alone I texted Scott that I was on my way back to his after I got a change of clothes and checked on the situation a few doors down. Lydia was still in the bathroom, but Stiles was in there with her now.

My eyes closed at the inevitable conversation ahead of me. There was no scenario in which I told Scott the truth and he didn't flip out.

The hardest part about rape wasn't the actual act itself. Don't get me wrong, that part would be forever etched in your mind, but you could block it out at times with practice. The hardest part was telling your loved ones and having to see their faces crumble under the hard truth that it already happened to you and there was nothing that they could do to undo it.

He had the living room set up for our scheduled binge session of _The 100_. There was pizza on the coffee table with drinks and a big bag of pickle flavored kettle chips. He already had the next episode queued up on the TV.

He stood to greet me excitedly. "Took you long enough, let's go." His eyes met mine and his excitement fell away. "What's wrong?"

All I could do was grab his hand and pull him to his room to spill my long hidden secret.

The hardest part was this. He was a loved one. And the heartbroken look in his eyes when he started to piece it together paled in comparison to when I actually spoke the words.

I sat on the bed to try and calm my heartrate.

He flew off the bed and paced wildly, his fists opened and closed repeatedly. He kept trying to speak, but couldn't until he finally cleared his throat. He stopped to look at me. "I wouldn't have done that stuff to you during sex if I had known."

"I wanted you to."

"Why?" He questioned.

"Because I knew that you wouldn't hurt me. Not like he did. And I needed someone that I trusted to help me work through it."

He looked at me some more then continued to pace. "I'm going to kill him." He punched a hole through his dresser.

I've never felt so small and open.

"I don't need you to do that."

"Why the fuck not?" He yelled. "He can't just do that to young girls and get away with it. He can't just do it to you and. . ." He faltered. He sat on the bed. "Oh my God." He let out a hesitant breath. "Oh my God. Malia, I don't know what to say."

"I don't need you to say anything. I just need you to hold me." My eyes met his for the first time in minutes. "Please." I begged. I felt my composure crumple.

His face fell as he rushed to engulf me into his arms. He held me to him tight while I cried. I cried for the young me that felt she had no choice but to let a man she trusted and loved force himself on her. I cried for rape of my sisters. I cried for the rape of any woman or man.

Scott rocked me back and forth as he told me things weren't always going to be this bad. I didn't care that I sobbed uncontrollably in front of him, that there was snot and tears running down my face, and I knew that he didn't either. He just kept me close in his safe arms until things started to feel better. Even then he didn't let me go.

But one thing's for sure, I could feel his rage bubbling in him to take the life of the man that had ruined all our lives.

After my shower I went to join Scott on the couch in my fresh clothes. I propped my feet into the cushion as I brought my knees to my chest protectively and leaned into his side.

He held up my phone, his other arm around me. "Peter's been texting you."

I went through the messages.

Peter: I've got a new location for you.

Peter: Check your P.O. Box.

Peter: Make sure to call your dad soon. You know how he gets, especially about Deucalion.

Peter: In case you doubted it, I love you.

My heart tugged.

Me: I will after we take care of something. Thanks for the location! I love you, too.

I looked up to Scott. "I've got to go get my sister." I stood.

He rose with me. "You mean we've got to go get your sister."

My head shook. "No, I don't want you involved. I don't want you to get hurt."

He headed for the door. "Too bad." His frustration returned. "If Deucalion is anywhere in sight..." His eyes glowed Alpha Red with a throaty growl that awoke my Coyote. "I'm going to rip him apart." His face started to change shape.

My hand went to his face. "Not if I get to him first." My eyes flared Coyote Blue.

We stared at each other in dark promise that someone was going to die tonight and it wouldn't be either of us.

A/N: Alright, hope yall liked it. Please leave your thoughts on the developments. Do you like where they're going? Do you want something different? If you haven't checked out my two new SCALIA ONE-SHOTS ON HERE PLEASE DO; UNTITLED AND BIG EYES. If you haven't read my other Scalia one-shot, Green Light, please give it a scan. And don't forget to show some love on my bae's Scalia fic 'Smoke And Mirrors' by Etherealmindss on here! :D


	9. Freeze You Out

The song for this mini chapter is Sia - Freeze You Out

STILES' POV:

While hunched over the bathroom sink to get a better look at my bruised face I touched the split lip and blackened eye. Kira had got me good and I was lucky she hadn't felt the need to keep going.

I heard Malia's voice from the other room and went to check it out. I greeted her and went for a hug once I had a shirt on.

When she told me to go help Lydia I was confused. Not that I didn't like the strawberry blonde beauty, it was the opposite. I just didn't think she was fond enough of me to warrant my going over there. Not in the way Malia suggested that it would make a difference. With Allie's nudge to go I ran down there to see what I could do.

She was in fact locked in the bathroom, her cries random and ear piercing.

Kira looked up at my arrival. She practically dragged me toward the bathroom. "You gotta love Malia when she knows what to do."

I knocked on the door. "Lydia, it's Stiles."

Her crying halted, followed by silence.

I looked to Kira.

She motioned for me to go in.

"Can I come in?"

After a few moments, the door unlocked but didn't open.

I creaked the door open and found her on the floor. Her mascara streaked down her face that her hands weren't covering. I closed the door behind me and locked it for her sanity.

She sat in the tub.

I steadily stepped into it and sat at the other end. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Her head shook.

Why was I in here? My presence did nothing to soothe her like they imagined.

My hand reached for the roll of toilet paper and I placed it in her lap.

She looked down at it and gave a mix of a cry and laugh.

"Oh, there she goes." My tone teasing. I scooted closer.

She pulled off a bunch and wiped her face, then blew her nose.

"Whatever it is, I'm sure we could figure it out. If you tell me." I rested my arms on my knees. "It is a guy? If it's a guy I can beat him up. He's an idiot. Where does he live?"

She cracked a grin but shook her head. She stayed silent.

We sat there until she was ready to talk. I was in the business of trying to right the wrongs I'd done after my dad died. I had done a lot of terrible things and honestly, it had only been Allison that brought me back. Again, I was questioning why it was me that was needed for this task.

So I voiced it.

"Look, Lyds," I kept my voice low. "We don't know each other that well, but I care about you. Out there they seem to think you want to talk to me. If you don't, I'll still be here. But I can listen too."

She turned her back to me and waited a few seconds. "I can't tell you with you staring at me."

Knowing what she meant, I turned around so that my back was pressed against hers. This tub wasn't that big enough otherwise.

She let out deep breaths to work up the courage. "It's about Deucalion," She started.

I figured as much.

"Something that I never wanted to talk about came out. Something with all of us. Or I guess, to all of us."

I sat there and stayed silent. Fear about what she was about to voice rose my heart rate.

Her voice became thick with fresh tears. "What he did to Kira he did to all of us. To me." She cried.

My eyes closed in defeat while my head hung. "Lydia, I'm so s-"

"Don't!" She breathed heavily. "Don't say you're sorry. You didn't have anything to do with it."

"Yeah, but I could still feel bad about it."

She sighed. "I don't want you to feel bad about it. I don't even want to be talking about it."

Trying to tread carefully, I said, "I can't even begin to know what you must be going through, but I do know not talking about it doesn't help anything." My mind sifted through memories. "I went pretty dark after my dad died, did things that I'm not proud of. It felt like Eichen House was built for me. Scott and Allie forced me into there, it was the only place I could talk about what happened."

"What happened?"

It felt so long ago, but in actuality, it was it only three years ago.

"He died my Senior year. My mom had long been dead so that left the family business on me. There was no one really to keep me in check besides Scott and Allison, but I distanced myself from them, did things my way." Old guilt riddled in me. "I killed a family of werewolves because I felt like it, burned their house to the ground. It wasn't until after that I knew there were children and normal people inside. I was careless and I didn't care." I gave a sardonic laugh. "For those few months, I was stuck in my own person Hell. If that's what you've been going through all these years that makes you a warrior."

She scoffed. "I'm no warrior, Stiles."

"You are to me," I recalled the times she'd handed grown men's asses to them single-handedly. "You would've made a good Hunter because you care. In my family, the women were in charge while the men took orders. You make fewer rash decisions. Maybe that's why I fell off the rails so hard."

She chewed on that. "You had Allison."

A tiny grin came to my face. "I did." I nodded. I was glad that I did.

"She's lucky to have you." Her voice not at all the confident flirty bravado that it usually held.

The complement warmed my chest. "Thanks." I wanted to turn around to see if she was okay, but was afraid she wasn't ready.

"Stiles," She started.

"Yeah?"

Her voice faltered. "I'm scared."

I would be, too.

My hand cautiously reached around for hers. "We're all scared. We can be scared together."

Her hand responded, linking with mine. "Together?" She sniffles.

"Yeah," I cast a glance her way. "That's not so bad, is it?"

Her silence scared me.

"Lyds?"

Her hand was shaking in mine, a small noise of her heartache leaked out. She pulled her hand back.

I turned around so I could grab her for a hug.

She openly accepted it and as if my presence made her more comfortable she let out whatever was inside.

My hands tried their best to rub reassuring circles into her, but I didn't think it was working.

She clutched at my shirts like a life raft.

Without realizing it, Lydia had become important to me. Not like how it was before any of this happened when I wanted to get to know her to sleep with her, this was beyond nefarious intentions. I felt incredibly helpless that I couldn't do anything to make her pain go away. Being here only did so much. Taking action was more up my alley.

The wheels turned in my head. Taking action helped me in the past. Granted, I went down a dark path. This time I wouldn't, just enough to ease Lydia's pain. To get myself prepared I focused on the pain that rolled of Lydia, Kira, and probably Malia. I thought of how I'd feel if I had a sister or a daughter that was raped, that if my mom was raped. I thought about how easy it was the last time to cut through bone and flesh with my weapons and how much I liked it. Most people didn't deserve that kind of retaliation. But Deucalion did.

As soon as I was done there I called Scott.

"We'll swing by and get you," He said.

From the tone of his voice, I could tell that he was in the same mind frame that I was. Good.

My lips kissed Lydia's forehead on my way out, my mind on autopilot. I knew what I had to do.

I marched toward the Argent room with revenge flowing through me. The door flew open under my touch. I went to the closet.

Allison dried her eyes with a tissue from the bed. "How is she?"

I sat the cases of the nearest bed. I grabbed my shirt from the back and replaced it with a black thermal along with black jeans and hunting shoes.

"Stiles?" Allie stood by the bed.

I flipped the cases open to pick out what I needed. The usual Kunai knives worked best, they fit into my hunting belt that worked like a game belt. After making sure the round was full and I had another on me, I tucked my G40 Glock in the back of my pants and pulled my shirt down over it.

"Stiles?" She asked, worry in her voice.

I didn't have time for her worry right now.

I slung my combat bow and arrow over my back with a case of titanium head arrows. My hunting gloves slid on.

"Stiles?!" She screamed.

My eyes met hers, I stayed as detached as I could. You couldn't go on a mission like this with feelings. It only put you and your people at risk.

"What are you doing?"

"What needs to be done." I headed for the door.

She stepped in my way, her eyes afraid. "I know that look, you can't go out there and do this."

I moved around her, but she intercepted my pathway again. With a sigh, I looked at her. "Move, Allie."

Her eyes burned into mine. "No. You have to go through me and I'm not letting you go down this road again."

"Why not? You know what he did to them. What he's doing to Malia's sister." I leaned down the short distance to get in her face. "What if that was you?" I kept my tone clipped. There wasn't time to get into this with her. I pulled away.

Her hands came to my shoulders. "Stiles,"

I shoved them away. "Stop," I went to the door, my patience already gone.

She pushed me back, only making us both angrier.

My jaw clenched as I backed her into the wall, my hands planted firmly on either side of her head. "You need to get out of my way. Deucalion has this coming. Whether we do it now or a week from now it's coming."

She raised on her toes so we were the same height, her coffee eyes full of determination and hesitation. "You can't go after him like this."

"How do you propose I go after then?" I yelled. "Goddamit, Allie! He raped young girls, girls that we know, and he's still doing it!" I pressed her into the wall. "And for what? Because we haven't stopped him yet!"

Her head shook. "I know that you want to make him pay, but there are smarter ways to do it. You've never seen him. You don't know what his powers are. From what Theo told us he's experimented on himself and others. Stiles, there's too many variables and not enough facts." Her hands went to my face lovingly. "If you go and something happens..." Her eyes surveyed my face.

My head shook. My hands slid hers off of me. "Nothing's going to happen, I promise."

Tears brightened her worried eyes. "You don't know that." Her hand drifted to her stomach. "There's been a pit in my stomach ever since I was taken and I know that something bad's going to happen."

"Not to me," My eyes softened enough for her to not worry.

My phone dinged from my pocket.

"They're outside." I opened the door.

She grabbed my face and pulled me down to meet her lips for the first time. Her tongue invaded mine and took over as she pressed me into the open door.

Completely caught off guard my arms hung in the air while I let her attack me with her mouth.

She pulled away with shocked eyes. "Oh God,"

We turned to see the jeep down in the parking lot, Scott in the passenger seat while he looked at with unreadable eyes.

"Fuck," I cursed.

Allie instantly put distance between us.

Malia honked the horn impatiently.

I looked back at Allie. "You couldn't have waited to do that until I got back?"

She gave a sheepish grin. "I don't know if you're going to come back, Stiles."

"I'm making sure I do just so you can kiss me like that in six months," I said to make her feel better.

Tears clouded her eyes again, she looked down.

I blew out a breath. "Try not to worry,"

Her eyes snapped to mine in frustration. "How can you ask me that?"

Scott slapped the side of the jeep. "Stiles, let's go!"

We glanced at them.

Malia stood on the floor with her arm propped on the open door. "If I have to come up there and get your ass you won't like how I do it." She promised.

I internally groaned. There wasn't enough time to do anything other than promise I'd come back. So that's what I did as I walked out to the jeep, her eyes on mine the whole time until I got inside and we sped off with the mission to rescue one person and kill another.

A/N: This was just a mini chapter to set up the next chapter the way I want it. It won't be a regular occurrence, I promise.


	10. Helium

The song for this chapter is Sia - Helium

ALLISON'S POV:

"I'm going to head to bed for the night," I told the girls. It was exhausting waiting for someone to return home from battle. I didn't know how Army Wives and Husbands did it year after year.

Stiles and I weren't married, we haven't even said the L word, so I could only imagine the constant crushing worry they felt for their other half.

I closed the door behind me, my eyes by my feet. When I looked up a little ways down the hall I halted. My breath left me.

Stiles stood there. His gaze stuck on me.

My feet worked on their own and I ran to him.

He caught me in his arms and lifted me off the ground. "I'm sorry," He whispered.

"It's okay," I said even though it wasn't. "What happened? Where are they?"

He tightened his hold on me. "Going home."

I pulled away with hopeful eyes at what this meant. "They got her?"

He grinned. "They got her."

I jumped up and down on him.

He scooped me up before I knew what was happening. He lead us to our room, then set me down. He stayed in my personal space like he didn't know the meaning of the word.

My eyes stayed locked on his while he backed me towards the bed.

He grabbed my hips and wrapped my legs around his waist as I jumped into him. My arms around his neck as he lowered us onto the bed.

My heart pounded like a war drum, but I let him kiss me how he wanted, touch me how he wanted, and love me how he wanted.

MALIA'S POV:

On the drive back home I sat in the passenger seat with my sister's sleeping body across the backseat. Going into this I had little faith that we'd actually get her back this early in the game, but Scott and Stiles were a big help with that. Without them, I don't know that things would've played out in a similar fashion.

My eyes went to Scott just to reassure that he was in fact still there.

He glanced over at me with tired chocolate eyes. "You okay?"

I nodded, unable to find the energy to speak.

He pulled me close to his side, his fingers interlocked with mine.

I rested my head on his shoulder with our hands in between us. A feeling of intensity swept over me and I wondered if my emotions were heightened at our great feat and or from our other lives. All that I knew was that Scott made my heart beat faster for no reason at all. We were supposed to be working on friends and we were, but it was hard when he was so obvious about his intentions with me. Who was I to deny them when I felt the same in the long run? But even so, we had to play this thing by ear.

I'm never really necessarily afraid of a fight, but I was afraid that I wouldn't get my sister back. Having Scott by my side, I felt even more sure of myself than usual. He was a King after all.

My eyes drifted shut while his warm, reassuring thumb rubbed at the skin on my hand.

By the time I woke up we were close to my house. Well, one of my houses. We had like three. This was my childhood home, but we'd moved away right before high school started. I've been back there a total of six times. There always felt like there was something important here, but now I think it might've been my brain warning me about Scott. No amount of warning would've prepared me for Scott.

I cracked a grin at the thought and moved away a bit to stretch.

Kylie was still asleep in the back.

"Hey," Scott muttered.

I grumbled, still needing a bit more time to wake up. I yawned in an incredibly unattractive way.

He chuckled. "You have dried drool on your cheek. I thought I felt something wet on my shoulder." He teased.

My eyes rolled while I licked my hand and wiped at the crust on my face.

"Why exactly are we going to your house if they left there to go to a safe house anyway?"

"I'm worried about one of Deucalion's men following us. They know where we live, we can fight if need be, but if they trailed us to the safe house it wouldn't be so safe anymore." I yawned a bit more, then looked out the window. "We're almost there," I rubbed my hands into my eyes. "I don't know how I'm going to tell my dad and Peter..."

He shot me a concerned look. "You don't tell them when you talked to them earlier?"

My lips pursed together. "No, I chickened out. And that's not something you tell someone over the phone."

His hand on the wheel opened in agreement. "You're right." He glanced out his window, then in the day night mirror. "What kind of car does your dad drive?"

I looked back behind us then snapped around. "Not that one." I glanced at him.

He sped up, which jostled the car against a branch in the road.

Kylie stirred in the back. "Lizzie?"

I turned to assure her. "I'm here."

She sat up, her dark hair rustled from her nap. "What's going on? We're going so fast," Worry crept into her voice.

My hand grabbed hers. "It's okay."

She looked for herself. "There's someone following us," Her brown eyes filled with dread. "It's him, isn't it?" Her eyes turned glassy. "I don't want to go back, please don't let him take me." Her voice trembled.

"That's not happening," Scott announced, his voice filled with Alpha protection, deep and raspy.

My eyes burned blue on their own.

Kylie reached out to touch my face. "I almost forgot about that."

My hand encased on hers. To stare at her now was insane. She looked like the same Kylie that we buried all those years ago, but now her features were that off a teenager. Her body has morphed into a curvy figure that made me want to cover her up more than the dainty white dress she had on.

Scott sped up, even more, turned the car around until we were facing our opponent. He leaped out of the jeep with vigor and the handgun Stiles gave us for necessary protection. He aimed at the car that stopped a half a yard in front of us.

"Get out of the car!" He stormed toward them in a no-nonsense way. "Get out of the car or I shoot!"

My vision adjusted to the glare of the windshield and I froze. I unbuckled my seatbelt.

Kylie scrambled to grab a hold of me. "Don't leave me."

My eyes assured her she'd be safe. "It's okay, Kyle. It'll be okay." I jumped out of the jeep, then rushed to the other car. "Stop,"

Scott looked back at me in confusion, then at the girl in the car.

My hand grabbed him to back him away from the crying girl I used to know. "It's okay," I pulled on her door, but it was locked. "Michelle," My eyes found hers. "Unlock the door."

Hesitantly, she unlocked it in between her frightened sobs.

I tore the door open and pulled her into a tight embrace as I crouched to be on her level. "I'm so sorry."

She leaned into me like she used to do a lot. "I don't understand...What did I do?"

My head shook. "Nothing. We thought you were someone else. I'm so sorry, Chelley."

Her wet eyes went to Scott and scrutinized him. "What are you doing with a gun?" Her tone disbelieving, her hand went to mine.

He noticed the move and his mood shifted as he looked at me. "What am I doing with a gun, Malia?"

Michelle's eyes weighed down on me.

"I can't explain it right now, I'm sorry." I put some distance between us and stood. "How'd you know I was in town?"

She came my way, intent heavy in her green eyes that I used to love. "Henry told me to stop by." Her bronzed, chocolatey skin glowed in the sunlight.

Why would he do that? I knew he loved Michelle for me, but he didn't know Scott was with me so maybe that's why he told her to come by.

She eyed Scott, then looked back at me with question in her eyes.

I made a noise of discomfort. "Scott, this is Michelle. Michelle, Scott." I wanted to retreat, but that would be melodramatic.

Michelle held out a hand.

Scott took it firmly.

She looked back at me. "So can we hang out later? Go to our old place," She pulled a dazzling grin that used to make my heart skip a beat.

Scott closed the distance between us. "We're busy,"

I looked at him, trying to convey he needed to keep calm. But I had been there, so I understood where he was coming from. I turned back to Michelle. "Yeah, our evening is sort of hectic right now. I don't know how long we'll be in town, but we'll do something before we leave."

She looked between Scott and me, knowing for sure that we were a thing when I kept saying 'We' instead of 'I".

"Great," She wrapped her warm arms around me.

Instinctively, I buried my nose into her neck. She always smelled like cocoa butter and brown sugar. Good enough to eat, suck, and lick. And we'd done plenty of that back in the day.

Satisfaction rolled off of her at my falter and the fact that it happened in front of Scott.

He was a mixture of angry, territorial, and turned on while he headed back to the jeep.

"So you and him, huh?"

My shoulders shrugged a bit. "Headed in that direction." I could feel the smile form on my face.

She looked at me in the way you always looked at your old flames, longingly, but wondering if things were left best as they were.

"We fell out of touch and maybe that was my fault, but I miss you." She said.

A grin crept to my face. "Yeah, I miss you, too." And I did, but it wasn't ever going to be the same as it used to be. I knew that. We had grown apart, lived our lives separate for almost two years now. We were supposed to make it the long haul through college, but long distance inevitably ended our five-year relationship.

With her in front of me, it was easy to recall how things developed between us freshman year of high school. She'd been on the volleyball team while I was on the soccer team. She was the girlier one between the two of us. Heat pooled in my shorts from the countless times I fucked her with my strap-on. Our sex had been pretty hot and we had a lot of cute moments, meaningful moments. But that didn't compare to how I felt about Scott or even around Scott. Our connection was a once in a lifetime thing or maybe it wasn't technically, but finding someone like how we found each other was rare.

"Malia," Scott called when I took too long, he stood by the open door of the driver's side.

He was right, we were wasting time.

"You still have the same number, right?" I asked.

She nodded, her kinky curls bobbed with her.

We moved for a hug, then I pulled away with the slam of his car door.

"I've got to go," I glanced behind us, then gave her a final look. "Take care."

She nodded. "You too."

I jogged back to the jeep, knowing that this would be talked about later, but I couldn't deal with that today.

When we got to my house there weren't any cars outside, but there were two heartbeats inside.

Peter came out onto the porch.

I looked at Scott. "Maybe you should stay in the car."

His jaw clenched at the sight of him, but he shook his head. "I can't."

My heart tugged. I reached over to squeeze his hand in his lap. "Hey, you don't have to do this for me."

His intense brown eyes burned into mine. "Yeah, I do."

What I wanted to do was reach over and plant a kiss that demonstrated how much I loved him, but the thought filled me with fear. Fear that I was falling for someone that wasn't mine to fall for.

He got out to help Kylie out, his hand held out for her.

She took it in indecision.

I blew out a heavy breath. "Here goes nothing," I muttered under my breath. My hand wrapped around the door handle, but I couldn't force it to open. Panic settled into my stomach.

Scott came around to open it for me, his eyes perfectly understanding. He held out his free hand.

My hand gratefully slipped into his while I hopped out.

The short distance to the porch felt like the _Green Mile_.

Scott's hand tightened around mine reminded me that he was swallowing a huge pill by being this close to Peter and not doing anything about it.

Peter greeted me with a warm welcome. "I'm glad you're okay."

I hugged him back. "Me too."

He pulled away. "Who might you two be?"

Scott stared at him with hard eyes that screamed of restraint. "Scott."

Kylie leaned into Scott's side under Peter's stare.

"Kylie," She looked at me.

"We have to go talk to Dad."

She nodded.

I grabbed her close to my side, then tried my best to inconspicuously push Scott ahead of us so there would be no temptation to lash out.

My dad popped his head around the corner. "Oh, I didn't know you were bringing company. I would've cooked more." He came to meet us. He reached out a hand to Scott.

Scott stepped forward to shake his hand. "Scott McCall. I go to school with your daughter."

"Nice to meet you, Scott." My dad nodded, then looked at me with the promise we'd gossip about this later. His glasses lowered as he took in Kylie. Question rose in his eyes, then he looked to me.

I nodded. "We found her." I lightly shoved her forward.

She looked at him in recognition but was afraid to go to him.

He closed the distance between them. "Kylie," He crushed her to him.

"Daddy," She squeezed him back. "I'm sorry."

He nuzzled her hair. "What are you sorry for?"

She started shaking.

"What's wrong?" He looked to me. "How did this happen? How are you alive?"

Kylie's head hung in shame, her arms hugged herself while she tried to make herself as small as possible.

"Kylie, why don't you go rest upstairs?" Scott suggested. He rested a hand on her shoulder.

She nodded with tears down her cheeks, her hand clutched at his tightly. She glanced back at me with a furrowed brow.

My head nodded once, letting her know I'd take care of this. I had to. This was best coming from me.

My dad watched them go, then stood in front of me. "What's she sorry for?"

I walked him over to the couch, then grabbed Peter to sit next to him while I stood in front of them. With their expectant eyes on me, I knew I couldn't get through this without shedding a tear.

"Elizabeth," He spoke as he noticed the guilty look on my face.

I looked between them, then settled on Henry. "There's something I have to tell you." I glanced at Peter. "Both of you."

"Spit it out already, sweetheart." Peter snided. "I see you have a flare for the dramatic like I do."

With that, I crouched down and grabbed a hand from each of them. "I don't really know how to go about saying all of this, so I'm just going to say it." I swallowed the dry lump in my throat. "You know how when Deucalion was our Alpha?"

They nodded.

"Do you remember what he did to Kira?" My legs never felt weaker.

Worry and recognition fell in both of their eyes.

I wet my lips. "Well, it wasn't just Kira that he did that to."

My dad sat there, frozen in place while his mind tried to work through that.

Peter leaned forward while his hand gripped mine. "What exactly are you saying?"

My eyes dropped to the floorboards. I'd never wanted to disappear so badly. This was why rape victims didn't like to share this news with loved ones. The embarrassment, the self-loathing, the hatred that formed in them constantly because of it was enough to make you want to rock back and forth in a corner. I just covered all that up with my confidence and attitude. Being a Woman's Studies major was the ultimate band-aid over the issue. That's why I moved across the country to go to Longwood University in Virginia, to get away from this, away from my sisters. Coming back was a necessity and I couldn't be gladder that I did.

"Malia," Peter yanked on my hand. His anger more worried than angry.

I looked them both in the eyes and said, "Deucalion raped Lydia and I, too."

Peter shot up and flipped the nearest table into the wall.

I grabbed both of my dad's hands. "Dad,"

Immediate tears streamed down his face, but he couldn't look at me.

"There's more," I knew this next part would completely crush him, but I had to get everything out there now. "He brought Kylie back to life. He's had her for a few years."

His eyes shot to mine and his head shook.

I nodded. "He..." I took a calming breath to steady my voice. "He raped her, too."

His face crumbled as a sob leaked out. His glasses fogged up and he threw them across the room.

Peter stalked out the back with a slam of the door.

I'd deal with him later. Now I had to deal with this.

His head shook. "No." He cried. "No." His hand came to my face lovingly. "Not my babies."

I couldn't keep the tears at bay any longer. "I'm so sorry." I apologized. "I should've told you sooner."

He tried to stand to go to Kylie but fell to his knees on the floor. "No!"

My arms wrapped around him protectively. I hated to see him like this, to see Peter like this. It wasn't fair for them.

He shook in my arms while he cried uncontrollably. He kept muttering 'No' like he could change things. He couldn't.

I rubbed his back even though that did little to nothing to help him cope. "I'm sorry."

He could only shake his head.

My heart longed for Scott's warm embrace to help me deal, but I knew I had to be here right now.

He looked up with puffy red eyes, his focus on the stairs. "You trust Scott enough to be alone with her?" His voice crackled.

"Of course," I answered right away. I felt insulted he'd ask that, but I had to understand. This was fresh for him, I had a few days and years to deal with it. "You can trust Scott. He helped me get her back along with another member of his pack."

His eyes went to mine. "He's like you?"

My head shook. "No, he's a Werewolf. An Alpha."

His eyes narrowed. "And you trust him? What if what happened before happens again?"

"He's not Deucalion!" I defended angrily, unjustly.

His face fell and he began to cry again.

I put his head on my chest. "He's not Deucalion, Dad. He's a good guy. You'll see." Hope filled my voice.

SCOTT'S POV:

I helped Kylie upstairs. She automatically went to what I assumed was her room. If it wasn't then Malia had a lot of pink and a lot of ballerinas in hers.

She looked at the bathroom, then at me. "Can you stay here while I shower?" Her voice was so small, yet held the same confidence that filled Malia.

"Sure," I sat on the edge of the bed while she went to shower.

I tried not to listen to the conversation below us, but when the sound of wood splitting vibrated through the air I had no choice to make sure Malia was okay.

She told Henry the truth and I listened to them both cry.

My eyes fogged up, but I blinked it away. I knew if I started to cry for this I wouldn't stop until it was Malia holding me up. And I knew I had to be the one to hold her up when she got up here. I wanted nothing more than to go down there to her, but I promised Kylie that I'd stay.

I could hear her cries from the shower and my head hung.

How could a man do this to little girls, to anyone? How could anyone think it was okay to burden somebody with life after the unfortunate event of rape?

I walked over to the window to find Peter struggling not to become the Alpha.

"Malia!" I called and ran to the top of the steps. "Peter's turning!"

She cursed then raced after him.

I didn't particularly care that he was at a war within himself, but if he hurt someone as the monster then I'd feel guilty.

She caught up to him with a growl.

He roared back.

"Peter, I know it hurts, but this isn't the way to deal with it." She reached out to him.

He backed away.

She moved a step closer. "I know you want to kill him, so do I. This isn't the way to go about it."

I disagreed, but for the sake of Peter not running around town as the Alpha I agreed.

He fell on all fours and readied to race off.

"Dad!"

He faltered and turned around to face her. He stood tall.

She rushed forward to wrap her arms around him. "Please, don't leave me now. I need you."

He miraculously turned back and fell into her with a sob that couldn't be helped.

She glanced up at the window with a thankful nod.

I nodded back.

A few minutes later Kylie came out of the bathroom in clothes that were too little for her so a lot was revealed.

I snapped around. I took off my jacket, pulled off my shirt and tossed it to her, then buttoned my jacket up.

She slipped it on. "Thank you." She unpeeled the covers and nestled into bed with nostalgia in her eyes.

I hesitated by the door. "Do you need anything else?"

Her head shook. "Can you stay until I fall asleep?"

Was that a good idea? I hoped Henry saw it as innocent.

"Yeah," I sat on the side of her bed with a bit of distance between us.

She looked at me with young Malia eyes. "She told them didn't she?"

I nodded.

Her gaze went beyond me. "He's never going to look at me the same."

My hand went to hers. "It'll pass. It may seem like it won't, but one day things will be back to normal."

"I don't know what 'normal' is."

As she whined down enough to fall asleep I listened to the eerie quietness that fell upon the house and woods. It was quiet enough for me to detect one more beating heart than the five of us. I leaned closer to press my ear close to her stomach to confirm.

"What are you doing?" Malia asked.

I snapped around, caught. I rose to my feet and motioned for the hall.

She followed, wariness in her eyes.

"I think we need to take Kylie to the doctor,"

Her eyes motioned for me to go on.

"Close your eyes and listen," I instructed.

She did, not hearing what I had at first, but when it sunk in her eyes flew open. Her eyes watered and she looked away. "This can't be happening." She pressed her forehead into the wall.

My hand went to knead her neck. "We'll figure this out."

She eyed me.

"Together."

She nodded, then brought her arms around my neck as she cried. "Thank you for everything."

LIAM'S POV:

It had been a few days since Scott and Malia left. That meant a few days of my continuous worry of what they'd decide to do with Theo when they got back. All I knew was that he was trying and I couldn't let that go unnoticed. He helped me run through plays when I was done with my school work and other times he'd advise me on my footwork and rotations. He was pretty swol so him training me as well helped my performance. It made me roll my eyes that he'd be drinking some Starbucks concoction while doing so. I'd watch him draw all the time, on napkins, on his hands, on anything he could get his hands on really. He was pretty good. I noticed it the other day when he was attempting to tutor me in Psych and he drew on the whiteboard.

"Dunbar," Coach yelled from across the field during practice.

"Yes, Coach?" I jogged over.

His gaze was focused on the other players when I neared him. "You've been doing extra practices, son?"

I nodded while I caught my breath. "Yes, Coach. McCall was helping me, but he's been busy the last few days."

He looked pleased. "Looks like you're getting consistent help?"

My mind went to Theo. "Another friend of mine, he's helping me practice, but he doesn't know much about Lacrosse."

His eyes went to mine. "If he's helping you practice and you've progressed this much then I think I need to meet him."

I made a face. "Uh...yeah." I smelled Theo's scent nearby. My eyes spotted him across the way. "He's here now if you want me to flag him over?"

Mild satisfaction wafted off of him. "You do that."

I jogged over to him, having to make myself stop from tackling him to the ground and planting my mouth on his.

He gave a kind smile at the sight of me. "Is it weird that I'm here?"

I grinned. "No," My face felt flushed, but we both knew it wasn't from exercise. I gestured behind me. "My coach actually wants to talk to you,"

His brow arched. "What for?"

My shoulders shrugged while my eyes challenged his. "Why don't you find out?"

A bit of nervousness swam in his eyes.

I backed away with a cracked grin. "Come on, you're not scared, are you? Big bad Werewolf like you..."

"Actually, I'm a Chimera." His eyes told me that the challenge was accepted as he stalked forward.

I didn't think we were good at hiding our attraction toward one another, not that we needed to.

"I'll find you after practice is over with," I told him then turned to run back to the field.

Throughout the rest of practice, I tried not to be too distracted by them talking, but it was hard because I had to focus on the plays the assistant coach spouted and keep up.

When we were wrapping up practice one of the upperclassmen, Jackson, called me to his side. "Liam," He waved over.

"What's up?"

He wiped the sweat from his forehead and he looked good doing it. "Some of us are having a thing tonight if you want to come?"

I tried not to show my excitement. They hadn't really gone out of their way to make me feel welcome, freshman initiation I supposed. Scott had been the only one and that's why I crushed on him like I had in the beginning.

"Yeah, for sure. What time?"

He smacked a passing teammate's back, then turned to me. "Around ten at the house, bring whoever you want." He squeezed my shoulder. "Good job today."

Pride filled me. If Coach and an upperclassman thought I was improving then these extra practices were, in fact, paying off.

"Thanks, see you later." I headed for Coach and Theo still talking on the bleachers.

They stood to wrap up with a handshake.

"I will see you tomorrow, thank you, sir." Theo offered a professional smile that I didn't know he was capable of, then walked my way.

"See ya, Coach." I waved a goodbye.

He nodded in my direction.

Once we were a good distance away, I nudged Theo's arm. "What was that about?"

He rubbed his hands together, then turned toward me as we continued to walk. "He was impressed with my helping you train. He wants to offer me an assistant supervising coach position, probationary." His eyes searched mine to gauge my reaction.

Intrigue sat on my face along with a bit of pride. Not necessarily for me but for him. I tried to hide my grin, but a little seeped out.

"You're starting tomorrow?"

He nodded, unsure of my reaction. "Yeah, if that's okay with you?"

This time I didn't hide my grin. "Welcome to the team," I held out a hand.

Pleased with that, he took my hand in his with a soft shake that lit up my skin. "Thanks."

I eyed Jackson while he walked in the other direction. "We're invited to a party tonight. How about you meet some of the team?"

"We need to hit the mall then."

I waved it off. "You've already shopped enough for a full closet."

"Not for me," He gave me a dismissive look.

My mouth dropped. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He chuckled. "You're not in high school anymore, Liam. You're hot. So dress like it."

While I didn't think what I usually wore was bad, maybe he did have a point.

When we got back to my dorm the DA flagged me over.

"Got a personalized care package. Two of them actually." She passed them through the small enough window.

I took them carefully. "Thanks." I sent a blessing up for my mom while I rushed to the side door down the hall to let Theo in. This was our way of sneaking him into the building without having to sign him in and out.

He nodded toward the packages. "You're lucky to have a mom that cares about you so much."

"Yeah, I am." I felt a little bad that it felt like this was rubbing it in his face. Part of me wished my mom hadn't sent anything.

I kind of just put them on my desk to diminish how much they meant and jumped in the shower before he could question it. When I got out I heard Mason and him playing video games and I grinned. They were becoming fast bros.

Mason glanced up from the screen. "Hey, some girl stopped by while you were in the shower."

I looked to Theo to see if he knew who it was.

"Kira," He mouthed.

I wondered if she was okay, then went down to the lounge at the end of the hall to call her. "Hey, my roommate told me you stopped by. What's up?" I kicked back on the couch.

"Nothing much. Lydia bailed on me to go on a date and I think Allison and Stiles are sucking each other's faces off. I wanted to see if you were busy, but Theo's there so I know you are." A twinge of sadness in her voice.

I instantly felt bad. "Well, we're actually about to go to the mall in a bit if you want to come? There's a party at the Lax house, I don't think they'll say no to letting you in." She was beyond gorgeous and I knew she knew that, but sometimes her attitude made her ugly. But I could understand. If I went through the same thing she did I think I'd have an ugly personality, too.

"Please, I know all of those cats. Let me know when you want me to pick you guys up."

I nodded. "K, bye."

"Later," She hung up.

Going back to the room, they were still playing video games.

Theo met my gaze in concern.

"She's coming with us to the mall."

Mason paused the game. "You're going to the mall? Can I catch a ride? I was going to ride the bus over there later to pick up this new game."

I nodded. "Kira wouldn't mind. You're gay, she can tolerate you more than most men."

He gave a confused laugh. "Okay."

Theo jumped upand sprawled out across the futon. "Open the boxes."

My eyes went to them and shook my head. "No, it's fine. I'll open them later. Not a big deal."

Mason shot up to run across the hall.

Theo gave me a knowing look. "Liam, it won't hurt my feelings. Open the boxes."

"Do I have to?"

His gaze turned serious.

"Alright, fine." I reluctantly grabbed one, then unpacked it. Inside was a card.

 _Liam, I'm so proud of you and this is a token of our pride. Don't feel like you have to be perfect for us. If you're struggling to balance things that's okay, just let us know. We won't think less of you - Mom & Dad_

 _P.S. The other box is for Theo ; )_

My mouth dropped open as I smiled. My mom was trying to smooge us together. Was smooge a word?

I handed him the other box.

His forehead creased. "I don't want your package, Liam."

A smirk sat on my face because we knew that wasn't true.

"It's not for me, it's for you. Open it."

A look of disbelief passed over him as he undid it.

Inside were paints and pencils of all kinds, a sketchpad, a book of inspirational quotes and a journal, and a few Starbucks gift cards.

He looked up at me teary eyed and unsure of what to say. He cleared his throat and turned from me for a bit.

To give him the privacy he needed, I went through my box, which wasn't as exciting as his. Just a bunch of underwear, socks, candy, and a small new testament version of _The Bible._

At least I got something and I knew they cared. Honestly, seeing Theo's reaction was more of a treat. He was far from the person he'd been that night I almost died in that warehouse.

When I turned back to him he sat on the futon, his elbows on his knees while he stared forward into the distance.

I sat next to him. "You okay?"

His eyes drifted to mine, they never looked more clear. He leaned forward until his mouth was on mine in a firm tug of lips with his heart on his sleeve.

My face felt hot under his gaze. And it was a good kiss. "What-what was that for?" My voice smaller than I would've liked it.

"For the care package,"

"Not that I'm complaining, but I didn't put it together."

He gave a little nod. "I know, but your mom got those ideas from somewhere. It's been so long since I had someone genuinely care about me that..." His eyes watered again, but he didn't shed a tear. "That I forgot what it felt like."

I leaned forward. "I care about you," I said without thinking.

His eyes gazed into mine.

Feeling backed into a corner I said, "I mean, we're friends. The others care about you, too."

He leaned the rest of the distance until his face was right near mine. "Not in the same way you do." He pointed out.

Very true.

This time I was the one that leaned forward, my hand cupped the back of his head to get a better grip.

He moaned into my mouth and the more we got into it, he moved us backward onto the futon so he was on top of me, which I was okay with.

My hips opened up for him to slid into.

His jean clad cock rubbed against mine as he grinded into me.

"Mhmm," I moaned into our kiss.

He ripped his mouth away from mine and glared into mine, he continued to dry hump me.

I pulled him back down to get his mouth back on mine.

His lips pulled into a smile against mine at that.

"Ahem," Someone cleared their voice.

It was Mason.

I thought Theo would've jumped off of me, but he simply picked his head up to stare at him while he continued to hump me.

"Need something?"

My hand slapped over my mouth to keep in my laughter and groan.

Shocked, Mason's eyes widened. He backed out of the room. "No, I'll be down the hall when you're ready to go." He closed the door behind him.

My laughter filled the room to cover up my embarrassment. "Why didn't you stop?"

Theo smirked down at me. "I've been waiting to make you moan for days. You think a little intrusion is going to stop me?" His mouth trailed kisses down my neck. He unfastened my jeans and reached inside to stroke me.

My eyes fluttered. "Fuck me," I cursed.

He chuckled. "You're not ready for that." His tone told me he knew I was a virgin. His eyes told me he was okay with that. "But we will definitely get to that." The certainty that dripped from his voice made me that much harder. He got rid of his shirt.

When he moved down to take me into his mouth my eyes flew open and I gaped at him. I've had blowjobs before, but none like that. None that felt that good in a mouth of a God.

He seemed to enjoy it as much as I did, if not more. He gripped my hips and worked me until I had no choice but to shoot inside his mouth. His eyes locked on mine when he tasted it, a hum around my cock from his satisfaction. He licked me clean then moved up my body to kiss me with a predatory gleam in his eyes.

To be frank, I was in heaven.

He pulled away from the kiss only to put my bottom lip in between his teeth.

I don't know how it happened but I came again, this time on his chest.

MALIA'S POV(flashback):

 _The three of us_ stalked _the place as carefully as possible._

 _Stiles signaled for us to stay low to the ground, but it was hard when I didn't know if my baby sister was inside or not._

 _Scott's red eyes met mine. He signaled for me to go ahead._

 _Stiles shook his head._

 _With Scott mentally and physically behind me, I went forward and kicked the door in. In hindsight, that was a terrible idea, but I wanted to get this over with._

 _A round of bullets flew my way from the few guys inside, but I ran and grabbed a hanging chain that let me swing above them. The spray of bullets only a millisecond behind me, which was enough time to get their attention on me and off the door._

 _Scott roared to life as he attacked them viciously._

 _I dropped to the ground, my combat boots gave a satisfied tap._

 _Stiles threw a knife into the back of the guy with his gun aimed at me._

 _The one that ran for the other exit I ran after him and yanked him back to the ground. My hands grabbed his arms. I growled._

 _He struggled against me._

 _I don't know if I was stronger than him, I probably was, or angrier, but I pushed against his arms until they cracked under the pressure._

 _He cried out._

 _"Where is she?"_

 _"I don't know who you're talking about."_

 _I moved his arms about._

 _He groaned in pain._

 _"Where is she?"_

 _"What girl?"_

 _My knee pressed into his neck. "I have no problem choking you until you take your last breath." I pressed a little harder to make sure he got my point._

 _His face turned red from lack of air._

 _"So where is she?" I crushed his windpipe._

 _Stiles ran past me to shoot some arrows into people._

 _I pulled out my phone and showed him the screenshot of the girl. "Where is she?!"_

 _His eyes motioned behind me._

 _Scott ran my way and pulled me along a hallway. There was blood splattered on his face that was a few shades darker than his eyes._

 _Stiles was far ahead of us frivolously laying his weapons into whoever came into view._

 _My hair was pulled hard enough to yank me back. I fell backward to the ground unsuspectingly._

 _Scott whipped around, spotted me on the floor, then leaped forward with a motor-like growl while I stood from the floor._

 _A girl charged down the hallway at me._

 _I met her halfway with a kick to the stomach and another to the face with my other foot. At the odd angle, I fell back again but recovered quicker with a spin kick that swoped her feet from uner her and landed me on my feet. I snapped back to Scott who had pulled the eyes out of the guy's head._

 _He threw the eyeballs with nerves attached down at the ground while the guy screamed in pain. He turned to me and roared loud enough to shake the windows high on the ceiling._

 _I turned around in time to get a dagger to the gut. I stilled from the pain._

 _The blue eyes glared into mine in revenge._

 _Scott jumped against the wall to land_ _behind us, his eyes held murder in them. He stabbed his claws in the guy's back and slowly raised him into the air. His other hand wrapped around his neck then he slashed his claws across the meat._

 _Some of the blood got on my face. I backed up so he could fall to the floor._

 _Scott rushed to me. "Are you okay?"_

 _"Are you okay?" I noticed the few scratches and bullet wounds on him._

 _He nodded. "Let's go."_

 _We ran forward until we hit a set of steps._

 _He kicked back the first person that challenged us so hard that they flew through the air until they hit the wall with a shattering blow, the plaster around them indented._

 _My hand grabbed onto Scott's shoulder to propel me forward so I could roundhouse kick the second guy. My boot landed on his knee with a crunch of bone._

 _He howled in pain._

 _I nodded to Scott, behind him._

 _He turned halfway and side kicked them back, then delivered power punches to their stomach so hard they spit up blood._

 _I stood on the stairs, my hand on my stomach. "Alex,"_

 _Scott looked back at me with a raised brow._

 _Wow, I did just give him a nickname for his middle name._

 _He joined me on the stairs so we could walk up. "Alex, huh?" He shot me a sexy grin that shouldn't have been sexy with all that blood on his face. His dominance rolled off of him in spades._

 _My eyes rolled. "At least, I'm not a show-off."_

 _He hung an arm around me and leaned in close. "You know you like it," He planted a kiss on the spot between my neck and jaw, then nipped at it._

 _I whimper leaked out of me. Not only did it feel amazing, but the pain from my stomach was gone._

 _He pulled away with a smug grin on his face that I should've knocked off with a right hook, but I wouldn't dare in reality._

 _We ran up the other set of stairs and followed the sound of fighting._

 _I ran to help Stiles._

 _He held his own against a group of three, but more were coming. He glanced my way and threw an Emei dagger my way._

 _My hand caught it in the air with no problem. I ran far enough, then slid underneath his legs and past the others to stab the closest one in the leg. To get a cheap shot, I hit him in the nuts._

 _He fell over, clutching them._

 _One grabbed me by the shoulder, but I pulled out the dagger from the guy's leg and flipped myself over with a growl and plunged it until into the new targets head. I yanked it out with a gratifying smirk._

 _Stiles dropped the last guy and offered his hand._

 _I wrapped mine around it. Once I was on my feet I spotted the guy charging our way and prepared to chuck the dagger at him, but Stiles instantly hurled an arrow into his throat with extreme accuracy that no human should've had in the short time his brain should've realized a threat and knew how to tackle it._

 _Color me impressed._

 _He looked back at me and winked._

 _I couldn't keep the grin off my face._

 _"Where's Scott?" He asked a second later._

 _The moment of lightheartedness left me once I realized he wasn't anywhere in sight._

 _My nose picked up his scene not too far from here._

 _"I hear him." Stiles looked to the side to focus his hearing._

 _My brow arched. "_ You _can hear him?"_

 _"Part of my training." He jogged forward._

 _I followed to see if he was as accurate as he thought. He was._

 _Scott had disemboweled the two guards of the room that held another door inside. The door was open._

 _My nose rose in the air to evaluate the scent and I instantly knew she was inside._

 _A second later Scott appeared with the same girl from the video by his side. She was definitely Kylie, older, more damaged, but still Kylie. Her dark hair was almost black, unbrushed and knotted in places. She was an inch shorter than me and probably done growing for a sixteen-year-old. Her brown eyes mirrored mine. The dirty white dress she had on adorned a few rips and tears. From here I could tell she'd been freshly raped not too long before we got here._

 _I let out a cry of relief as I fell to my knees._

 _She stared at me in question, wondering why I looked so familiar. She slowly came forward on shaky legs, kneeled down, then extended her hand in a trial._

 _My pinky hooked around hers, then our other pinky's met. We met in the middle to kiss our hands._

 _She cried out in disbelief. "Lizzie?" Her voice far deeper than I was used to._

 _I nodded and swept her up in probably a bone-crushing hug, my head nestled in her hair as I cried. "We're going to get you out of here. I'm sorry it took us so long."_

 _"Sorry to break up the reunion," Stiles started, "But there's got to be more coming. If we're going to go we have to go now."_

 _We picked ourselves up._

 _I pulled us toward the door we came in._

 _"Not that way," Stiles interjected._

 _We all looked at him._

 _He pointed at the barred window. "That way. We'll jump down. Whoever else that's headed this way will be down those stairs and waiting for us."_

 _Scott began pulling the bars apart while Stiles readied his gun at the door. Scott drove his fist into the glass to shatter it all and knocked it away, simply ignoring the cuts on his arm now. "Let's go," He motioned for us to go first._

 _I hauled Kylie onto my back. "Hold on tight." I stepped onto the ledge, then threw us into the air until we landed on the ground._

 _She shakily held onto me even though I stood on my feet with no problem._

 _A moment later Scott landed behind us with Stiles on his back. No matter how skilled Stiles was, that drop was high enough that if he landed wrong he could break something._

 _We all looked at each other in relief. We did it. We saved my sister._

 _Bullets zipped past us and into the trees._

 _"Go," Scott directed. "Go!"_

 _We raced for the jeep parked a mile in the other direction. I kept Kylie on my back because it was faster. She was in no condition to run._

 _Stiles tossed Scott his gun, then produced throwing star daggers that sliced through the air until they hit flesh._

 _When the jeep came into view I relaxed a smidge, but not entirely._

 _Scott ran ahead and slid across the hood of the car. "Keys!"_

 _With them already in my hand, I tossed them to him. I set Kylie down to open the door._

 _She groaned, a bullet passed her and hit one of my headlights._

 _I whipped around. "Are you hurt?"_

 _Her hand went to her side._

 _Scott started the engine. "Lia?"_

 _I put her into the backseat then pushed her over enough for me to climb in._

 _Stiles jumped into shot_ _gun._

 _The jeep pulled forward with so much speed that it scared Kylie._

 _I checked her over and settled on the realization that the bullet grazed her side and didn't actually go into her._

 _We both relaxed at that._

 _She fell into my side, then moved so that her head was on my lap, and by the time we dropped Stiles off she was asleep._

 _Scott stopped by his place to grab a duffel of clothes for us._

 _Soon after I dozed off, too._

 _At some point, we stopped and I was shaken awake. My hands flew out protectively while my pulse spiked. No one was going to get my sister._

 _Scott grabbed them as he came into view. "Relax," His hands rested on my shoulders._

 _My breathing evened out._

 _"We've got to clean up before someone sees us like this." He nodded toward the rest stop bathroom._

 _My head shook. "I don't want to leave her."_

 _"You go first, I'll keep watch." His eyes bore into mine. "I'm not going to let anything happen to her." His_ gravely _voice thick with promise._

 _If it had been anyone else I would've scoffed at the idea, but it was Scott. And I trusted him with my life and dare I say Kylie's._

 _Once we were both cleaned up I sat in the driver's seat._

 _He came around to my side. "I can drive so you can keep an eye on your sister."_

 _He was so sweet._

 _As if knowing my thought process he said, "And I also don't trust that you'll drive safely if you're distracted by checking on her, so out you go." He opened the door and leaned against it._

 _With a warmed heart, I jumped out and wrapped my arms around his neck. "I don't know what I'd do without you. You're a good friend." Even as I said it, I knew what a death sentence that was to some guys. Sure,_ _we're_ _working on our friendship, but everyone and their grandma knew we were beyond just friends._

 _"If I didn't know that that was a sincere compliment, then I might feel some type of way." He spoke, then pressed a kiss into my hair. He pulled away. "Now get your ass in_ shotgun _."_

 _I grinned with a laugh and followed orders with a salute. I searched for my phone, but almost panicked when I couldn't find it._

 _Scott held it up in his hand while he moved the jeep onto the road._

 _Part of me relaxed at the sight of it. I knew I'd never be_ _truly relaxed until all of this was over for good._

 _I called my dad to tell him I was on my way back home and now and to meet me there in a few hours._

We'd been here a few days and each day seemed a little easier for Kylie, but she was far from being fine. I loved her dearly and it was the second chance I thought I'd never have to be her big sister again, but I was exhausted.

So when my dad and Peter went to take her fishing to get her out of the house I stayed behind. By default, Scott stayed behind.

With a light sprinkle outside I went to the front porch to sit on the couch. I placed a blanket over my legs to shield from the breeze. Being out here gave me a chance at a clear mind. Three weeks ago my life had been seemingly normal...ish. Now everything was turned around but in a good way. I never thought I'd have Kylie back or have Peter this in my life or Scott this supportive.

He was maybe the best part about all of this, he'd been the only one to convince Kylie to go fishing and eat her vegetables at dinner. Whether she had a crush on him or felt comfortable in his presence I wasn't sure yet. Either was fine with me.

A little bit later he came out with two mugs of his homemade hot cocoa.

I perked up when he handed me a mug.

He sat beside me and reached for some of the blanket.

I rested my legs across his lap.

He gave a tiny grin at the action.

We sipped our cocoa's in silence and let the rain pick up around us.

He gave a yawn.

Automatically, I yawned, too.

He grabbed my empty mug and set ours on the floor, then pulled me toward him so that my back was into his side.

Maybe I shouldn't have, but I moved until I was in his lap. It was ten times warmer than the couch.

"Oh, we're playing that game?" He asked teasingly, then he moved so we laid down flat on the couch.

My laughter filled the air.

He joined in.

I turned so that I was on my side against him.

His warm arms held me to him.

I let out a sigh of comfort as I snuggled up to him.

"Not to ruin a perfect moment, but when we go back what are we going to do about Theo?" He voiced.

My eyes met his in indecision. "I hadn't thought about it. Allie says he's been doing well. Yes, he should've told us about your mom, but I don't blame him."

He gave a tired sigh. "Yeah, neither do I. But do you think we can really trust him? What if he is playing us and is using Liam to get closer to us?"

I mulled that over, then rested my head on his chest. "Kira says they've been hanging out a lot. I don't think you can fake caring about somebody."

"Unless you're a Psychopath."

He had me there.

"If he's offering up info then how much of a risk could he be?"

"I guess, we'll find out." He said.

The cool breeze and after effects of the cocoa worked on my eyes and before I knew it I was dozed off.

The sound of an old school camera snapping pictures woke me up.

My eyes fluttered open to find my dad a few feet in front of Scott and me on the couch with a camera in his hands. I sleepily looked down at Scott as he looked at me. Humiliation washed over me

"Dad," I complained.

He took a few more at different angles. "What? You guys look cute."

I buried my face into Scott's chest with a mortified groan.

His laughing body shook me. "I think it's cute," He said into my ear. "The more photos we can show at our wedding." He teased.

"Bite me." I said even though my mind told me that that wasn't the worst idea.

We stilled against each other, our minds taking us to what we knew was another life.

First thing I noticed was that my hair looked so cute with the blonde highlights. Slay me. The second thing I noticed was that Scott looked older, rugged and even more handsome. We stood in front of this house only it was different somehow. There was death surrounding it, rebirth. That me looked at that Scott with tears her eyes.

"You built this entire house by yourself?" She asked.

He nodded. "I wanted it to mean something."

She basically attacked him in a bear hug, then ran off to scope out the house. In her excitement, she went out back to check out the view of a marked grave. My dad's marked grave. Or, I guess, her dad's marked grave. When she turned around Scott was down on one knee.

"Malia, It's by complete chance that you and I found each other. There are a lot of variables that if changed we would never have known each other. It's because of those variables that I'm extremely grateful that I got the chance to know you. From the moment that I saw you I knew that there was something about you that forever changed my life. And you did. You believed in me when I didn't believe in myself. You stood by my side in battle and in friendship. You made me realize that I could laugh. Because of that, I realized just how right you were for me, even if you didn't see it at the time."

She gave a laugh full of tears.

"Seven years I have loved you like I haven't loved anybody else. When I saw you in that diner two years ago I knew that I was completely screwed. And I still am because every day with you reminds me of what my life could be like without you in it. That thought alone scares that crap out of me. I want you in my life, Lia. Forever and always." His eyes searched mine. "Will you marry me, Malia Elizabeth Tate?"

She said yes, who wouldn't?

They kissed at their celebration.

Our minds snapped back to our reality.

"Hello?" My dad asked.

With our eyes on each other's, I lost my breath. We were engaged there, possibly married at some point.

It was hard for me to imagine letting a man have that title and hold over me, but the emotions she felt flooded me and I could truly say that in that moment if Scott asked me I'd say yes. That terrified me.

My hand pushed me off of him in panic.

"Are you guys okay?" My dad grabbed me.

Scott propped up on his elbows with his eyes on me in much the same way mine were on his.

It was hard not to look at him like she had looked at him, with so much love and gratitude that it choked me.

"Malia?" He asked again.

I nodded. "Yeah,"

"Good cuz I invited Michelle to dinner tonight,"

My body froze. "What?" I was gonna have a panic attack. "Why?"

"Because I told her you were leaving tomorrow and she wanted to spend time with you before you left."

My hands covered my face. "No, Dad." I stalked off and childishly stomped up to the stairs.

Peter popped his head around. "There's going to be none of that in this house."

I looked back at him, then continued to stomp up the rest of the stairs until I got to my room to flop onto my bed.

There was a knock on my door.

"I'm not in the mood, Scott." I said, then pressed my face back into a pillow.

The door opened. "Then it's a good thing I'm not Scott," Kylie said.

I came up for air with an agitated huff.

"It feels like nothing changed and we're back to the old days." She gave a reminiscent smile, then looked at me. "What happened?" She sat on my bed.

Not ready to tell anyone the truth just yet, I omitted the truth. "Dad invited an old girlfriend of mine over for dinner."

"Is that the girl from the other day? She was pretty."

I nodded. "And I woke up to him taking pictures of Scott and me on the couch outside."

She snorted a laugh. "I tried to stop him, but better you than I." She joked.

My hand pushed her shoulder back. "Thanks, sis."

She grinned a closed mouth grin. "What are younger sisters for?" She leaned forward on her arms. "So I'm guessing you're worried about Scott?"

I nodded.

She chewed on her lip, then leaned forward to whisper, "Are you two dating?" The first of elation in her eyes.

I didn't know how to answer that question.

"Maybe?" My shoulder shrugged.

She twirled her almost black hair. "Because it really seems like it. Obviously, I'm not a nun so I know romance in the works when I see it."

I made a slight sheepish face at her words. She didn't know romance, she knew abuse. I didn't want her confusing the two.

Instead of lecturing her, I said, "When I say it's complicated, that's the understatement of the century. We're supposed to be just friends for right now until things calm down and we get to know each other better."

The last part felt false now. It felt like I knew everything I needed to know about Scott. All the important things, at least. Like if he'd risk his life for mine. Yes, he would. If he'd risk his grades slipping to be there for me emotionally. Yes, he would. If he was willing to put aside his hatred for Peter to stay with me to make sure my sister was okay. Yes, he would.

"Why would you want to be just friends with him? He's like totally in love with you, you know."

My forearm covered my eyes. "He is not." I dismissed.

She fell down beside me. "Yes, he is." Her head rested on my stomach. "He wants to kiss you," She poked at me. "He wants to make love to you. He wants to have yo babies."

I swatted her fingers away. "Shut up," There was no malice in my voice, only sisterly bickering.

"Not until you admit you're in love with him, too."

My head shook. "I can't do that."

"He's out back with dad descaling the fish if that's what you're worried about."

I brought my hand to her hair. "Even if he weren't able to hear from there I still can't say those words." Those were the last words I ever said to her, then she died. Granted, she came back, but still.

"Well, when you can I think he'll be there to hear them."

If she picked up on my reasoning, I couldn't tell.

"Besides, if you don't go for it I will."

I gaped at her.

She laughed. "We're not going to pretend like he isn't insanely hot, but I was joking." She swore, then lightly smacked my face.

I punched her boob. "Bitch."

She clutched in her hand. "Bitch."

We laughed like we'd been doing this our whole lives. But we hadn't. And I owed a lot to Scott for helping her break out of her shell as quickly as she did because much like me, she felt safe around him.

My heart warmed.

THEO'S POV:

The party that Liam dragged Kira, Mason, and I to wasn't bad. I hadn't actually been to a college party before, but I tried not to act like it was a big deal. Letting people know that you cared about things usually showed your weaknesses. So far I showed plenty to Liam. That hadn't been my intention, but once his blue read mine I fell open like a book. He held so much faith in them that I'd change and maybe I did a little. But that's not why I was here.

I grinned at him across the room while he chatted with his teammates. He introduced me to them earlier, but my mind was preoccupied with the dawning minute trickling down until I had to step outside. When the time came, I did. I made sure that Liam and Kira were busy as I snuck out.

Over the thumping music and drunken conversations inside and outside the house, I was sure no one would hear.

My phone rang like clockwork.

I answered begrudgingly.

"Are they still buying it?" Deucalion demanded in the soft tone he only had with me some of the time.

"Yes," I answered. "Most of them, especially Liam."

He made a noise of contentment. "Good job. Keep it up." He hung up.

If I let in the guilt and betrayal they'd inevitably feel I couldn't continue being a double agent and I needed to be to get my happy ending. It was the only thing keeping me sane these days.

When I turned around Mason was staring at me. I jumped back. "Dude,"

He offered a grin that didn't reach his eyes. "What was that about?"

I gave a grin that usually worked on Liam. "Nothing, just an old friend." I patted his shoulder in passing. Once at the steps, I looked back and we locked eyes.

He didn't seem convinced.

I liked Mason. He was a good kid. If he became a problem I'd have to take him out of the equation. I wouldn't like it, but I'd have to.

He tore his gaze away and took out his vape pen.

As soon as I went back inside Kira pulled me toward the kitchen for Jell-O shots. I threw a few back to appease her. I felt a gaze on my ass and turned to find Liam checking me out. Out of amusement, I winked.

He reddened while he talked to a different teammate.

A grin planted on my face disguised the evilness that lurked beneath. I felt trapped in a sunken place and I wanted to scream for help, but couldn't.

A/N: How was it? Please leave a review to let me know where you're at mentally :) IF YOU LOVE THIAM AS MUCH AS I DO CHECK OUT MY NEW THIAM FIC: HOWLING(it's only two chapters so far, kinda smutty if you're into that lol). If


	11. The Night We Met

The song for this chapter is Lord Huron - The Night We Met (So this song is literally everywhere and so mainstream after 13Reason Why. I love that people love the song as much as I have for the past three years, but does anyone else that knew it before the show feel like it's losing it's essence? Not to be hipster about it haha)

MALIA'S POV:

The sound of forks and knives clinking against porcelain plants filled the awkward void in the air.

With the six of us exchanging half glances around the table. Michelle sat next to me while Scott sat next to Kylie, my dad's on either end of the table.

Kylie's foot tapped mine under the table. She gave me an anticipative look as she took a sip of water, her eyes motioned to Scott.

He pushed around the peas on his plate with his gaze lowered.

So I knew that he wasn't just spaced out because Michelle was here, but because of our shared memory earlier. I guess, we both sort of assumed we ended up together in the other life but actually seeing it play out was different.

Those words hadn't left my head.

 _Seven years I have loved you like I haven't loved anybody else. When I saw you in that diner two years ago I knew that I was completely screwed._

Seven years. That was a long time. A lot longer than our almost month. Fuck, the engagement ring was gorgeous. That Scott had said something about seeing me two years ago in a dinner, I wanted to know what happened. But this reincarnation thing didn't work that way.

"So," Henry started. "Michelle, how's college going?"

She swallowed her food, then grinned at him. "Pretty well. I've been doing classes in the summer so I'm going to graduate this semester." She nodded. "Then I'm off to find a real job."

"That's great," He concluded. "You're still an Engineer, right?"

She smiled with a laugh. "Yeah. They won't be ready for me." Her confidence had always inspired me to be like that.

I hadn't always been such a feminist or independent. Or strong. After Deucalion, I'd been the weakest one. Finding Michelle was my saving grace. She wore her Black confidence like a crown, something I'd been so attracted to in the beginning.

"No, they won't." I added with a slight grin. My eyes went to Scott still pushing peas around his plate.

Kylie raised her brow at Michelle. "You're an Engineer?"

Michelle met her green-eyed gaze with her own brown sugar stare. "On my way to being one. Don't tell me you're one of those that believe women can't go into the Science and Engineering field?"

Kylie gave a half shrug. "I just think a woman's place should be in the house, that's all."

The air turned rigid.

As terrified as Kylie had been about Deucalion getting a hold on her again, she still exhibited sexist tendencies from learned behavior over the years. I tried to break her of continuously asking the men if they needed anything throughout the days or randomly cleaning things. Not that there were anything wrong with those, but in the obedient nature she learned they were incredibly disgusting. It was like she'd grieved internally, then she was right back to the conditioned state.

Last night Scott yelled for me to come to his guest room. When I got there Kylie had been on his bed, naked and waiting for him to use her. He had his hands over his eyes and when he saw me he didn't know what to do. She didn't understand what the problem was from our worried expressions. She kept saying that's what she thought Scott wanted.

That night I held Kylie as she slept. It had been a harder night than most.

Next to me, Michelle was about to school her, I could feel it.

Scott turned toward her with nervous eyes. "Despite what you've been taught, women are extremely capable of doing everything a man can. Probably better." His eyes met mine. "Look at your sister, for example. She's smarter than most of the people in the room. I've seen her take down men who thought treating women like pieces of meat and minorities like scum in ways that I could never do."

My chest warmed at his words. I tried to hide the budding smile on my face.

He looked back at her with sure eyes. "And I don't doubt that she can kick my ass if she has to."

Kylie nodded, then stole his roll off his plate. "If you're not going to eat that, I will."

He grinned at her with a shake of his head.

She reached for my bread.

My hand almost forked her hand to stop her from taking it. "Sorry,"

She drew her hand back with wide eyes.

Scott nudged her shoulder. "Watch this," He reached for my roll.

And I let him.

Michelle and Kylie's mouth fell open in shock.

"What? How is that fair?" Kylie asked with a knowing look.

Scott bit into the roll with smug eyes.

Michelle turned toward me. "You never let me pick off your plate."

Face red, I looked at Scott with hard eyes. He knew what he did.

"Scott," Peter picked up on my discomfort. "Are you going back to school soon? Surely, you shouldn't be missing this much class."

Scott looked him in the eye with the same restraint he'd displayed the past couple of days. "I'm here as long as I'm welcomed."

Peter's gaze fell on me. "What about you, dear? When are you going back?"

"I'm not," I looked at Kylie. "I'm not leaving you behind this time."

Her head shook. "I'm fine."

My head shook. "No, you're not."

Her face hardened. "There's nothing wrong with me, Lizzie."

She didn't know how wrong she was.

"That's not up for you to decide."

Her head tilted. "Being that it's my life, I think it is up for me to decide."

I leaned forward on the table. "Kyle," I reined in my anger. "You're not okay. People don't go through what you went through and turn out just fine. You need help."

Her face reddened in embarrassment, her eyes shifted around the table uncomfortably until tears formed in her eyes. "I don't need this," She pushed her chair back and dashed from the table.

"Kylie," Dad called after her.

Scott gave me a disappointed look.

With a sigh I lowered my gaze.

"I'll go talk to her," Henry rose.

"No," Scott shot up. "I'll do it."

My eyes met his before he went after her.

Henry sat back in his seat, his glasses perched on his nose. "That went well,"

Michelle nudged me. "Are you going to tell me how she's alive?"

Internally, I groaned. My lips pursed. Despite having been in a near six year relationship with Chelley I hadn't ever told her about my Werecoyote side. I trusted her completely, but putting her in danger with that secret wasn't an option I could afford. Now, I felt I had an obligation, but I didn't know how she'd take it.

So I fully faced her and the words that I kept in for years and years spilled from my mouth.

SCOTT'S POV:

Kylie sat on the floor against her bed, her head in her hands while she wept silently.

I sat beside her with a foot or so of distance in between us.

She looked at me with red, teary eyes. "It's not like I don't know that there's something wrong with me. I know."

My head shook. "There's nothing wrong with you, Kylie."

Her mouth held a wry set to it. "That's not what Malia thinks."

My knee nudged his. "Malia loves you and she's just wants you to be like her. Too fast too soon."

"So you agree that there's something wrong with me?"

I huffed. "I think you've been held captive by a raving chauvinist who manipulated your mind to bend to his fantasies." I took a moment to think. "And I think you know what's right and wrong, but what he did to you is making it hard to integrate those beliefs that you have underneath."

Her chin crinkled together and she turned away from me to cry. "I don't want to be this way," She got out in between sobs. She eventually leaned against me.

Trying to respect the boundaries she needed to have with men, I let her take comfort in me but I didn't touch her.

Henry's clunky footsteps headed up the stairs and in our direction. I prayed he didn't think I was taking advantage of his daughter.

When he stood in the doorway he held a broken look only a father in his situation could have. He motioned for me to hug her.

So I did.

She cried even deeper.

He locked his eyes on mine and gave a grateful nod before he wandered off.

"You just have to find your voice." I told her as calmly as possible.

I focused my hearing between the room and downstairs.

Malia delivered the whole story to Michelle. The most shocking news was that she hadn't told Michelle about her animal side. All the years they'd been together and I felt confident in saying I knew Malia far better than she ever did.

There was nothing to be jealous over. That first day I got upset, sure, but now I was certain Malia didn't let Michelle know her like I knew her. Now she was telling her the truth, but there was no intent in her to pick things back up with Michelle. They left the house to presumably talk more about things.

Once Kylie had fallen asleep against me I picked her up and tucked her into bed. The dark country sky darkened her room.

During my shower I tried to clear my head, but it was hard given the atmosphere.

When I came out, Malia was perched on the bed. She gave me a sheepish half grin, then picked up a basket. "Want to go somewhere with me?"

My brow rose.

MALIA'S POV:

The walk through the woods was quiet, nothing but the sound of night creatures that puttered around us, a slight breeze that ruffled through the trees and our footfalls. The moon bounced its ethereal luminescence around. When it landed on Scott all I could do was stare at him.

He let his heart palpitating inducing gaze fall on me. "What?" A dimple popped out for me.

I felt my eyes smile more than I did. My head shook. "I'm sorry about dinner. That was weird. Like really weird." I blew out a breath. "I don't know why my dad did that. He knows that we're..." I struggled for the right word. "Involved."

He nodded, but didn't know what to say.

My shoulders shrugged. "I told him about you before..." I shrugged again.

I knew my dad meant well, but this dinner came off as insensitive. To Scott. I knew it did. Especially after what happened on the porch.

He looked at me with question in his eyes. "You talked to him about me? When?" His mouth dipped in what could be a hopeful grin if properly motivated.

Not realizing I probably shouldn't have said that, I blushed a little. "A few weeks ago."

His grin grew into one that held me captive. "So the week after we met."

This was embarrassing. Now he probably thought I fantasized a whole relationship in my head the second we met or some stalkery crap.

His hand grabbed the basket and slid into place with mine. "Don't be shy, I think it's cute. You had a crush on me."

I gave a defensive grin. "I wouldn't go that far."

"Yeah, okay." He didn't sound convinced. "Where are we going anyway?"

My eyes rolled playfully. "To my cave."

He stopped where he stood. "What do you mean your cave?"

"I have a cave." I laughed. "I went there a lot when we stayed here. It was far and between after Kylie and mom died. But I went there a lot after Deucalion. It became a second home when I ran away from the others. I didn't talk to my dad about a lot of stuff back then. The girls were there, but that was one thing we brushed the rug."

His hand tightened around mine. "Are you going to punch me if I say I'm sorry?"

"No," I laughed. "It's not your fault. You have nothing to be sorry about."

He tugged me closer. "All this time we were so close to each other and we never met. If I have gotten to know you then I could've done something."

"It's sweet of you to think that, but we thought Deucalion was dead. There was nothing else to be done about it. We just didn't want to acknowledge it. Besides," I stared into his eyes knowingly. "If you met me then you wouldn't have liked me."

His forehead creased. "Why is that?"

"Because I was nothing like how I am now. I was shy are introverted. I was only in sports to work through anger issues that I wouldn't talk about with my dad. The girls did the best they could with what they had, but if Michelle hadn't come along then I don't who I'd be. She helped me through a lot of things without realizing it."

His head tilted back with a sigh. "Michelle," He glanced at me. "She really wanted me to know that she had you first."

I gave a nervous laugh. "Sorry about that. We were in it for the long game, but school got in the way."

"But now that you're back..." He put out there.

My eyes narrowed at his. "Are you nervous that I'm going to get back together with her?" I teased.

He met my gaze full on. "Not even a little bit," His gaze gave me goosebumps. "I know how you feel about me, I think." He chuckled adorably. "But I think she's gotten the message."

"Trust me, she has."

His brow rose.

"When we left earlier I told her everything. Not just the werecoyote part and Kylie stuff, but everything. Our memories included."

Shock sat on his face.

I nodded with the weight of that decision. "It felt so good to get it off my chest to someone objective. Well, partially objective. She knows that her and I aren't going to try again. How could I when what we have is literally out of this world?"

He shook his head. "Cheesy, Tate. I didn't think you had it in you."

A smile passed over my face as we neared the cave. "There's a lot of things that you didn't know I had-" I cut myself off.

He smirked. "Go ahead and finish that sentence,"

I held up my middle finger with a laugh when he looked upset by it. "Aww, you're not going to cry are you, McCall?" I lead him into the opening of my cave.

"No, but I might tell Kylie you're being mean to me. We both know she's on Team Scott."

My laughter bounced off the walls the deeper we went. "Yeah, I think you're right about that. How did you hijack my sister?"

He set the food down, then dragged me along to gather firewood. "It's simple. I'm the hot girl."

Laughter escaped me. "You're the what?" I followed.

"The hot girl." He threw a look over his shoulder. "People are drawn to me, for the most part."

I thought on it.

"Hate to break it to you, but in my experience, people don't like you as much as they're intimidated by you. You're not the hot girl. You're just hot."

He wiggled his eyebrows.

I laughed again.

With the kindling and such gathered, we headed back to the cave.

He looked at me with indecision on his lips. "Uh...Do you know how to build a fire?"

I took the wood from him with a smirk. "That hasn't changed. I remember that about you." I smiled at the memory as I began the making of the fire.

He sat back and watched me, a permanent look of amusement on his face ever since we started our walk over. One leg fell flat on the ground with the other propped up, his arm rested on the knee. "Do you ever think about what it would be like if one of us didn't remember the other life?"

"And the other did?" I glanced up from my work to verify.

"Yeah," He tapped his thumb on his propped knee.

My shoulders shrugged. "No, never thought about it. Until now." I nodded. "That would suck. Especially because I don't think either of us would believe the other." I saddened at that knowledge. If it had played out like that then I know I'd likely go insane if it were me.

"Or what if one of us stopped having the flashbacks?" He posed.

My eyes met his in worry. "Do you really think that's going to happen?"

He shrugged one shoulder. "I don't know. We don't always see the same stuff. Like that night I kissed you, I didn't see what you saw. We don't know how this thing works. Or why we're seeing them, how. Is there a purpose behind them?"

"It seems pretty cut and dry to me. The powers that be want us to be together," I teased.

His eyes rolled. "We can do that on our own. It just seems weird that they only started when we met. Why not over the course of our lives?"

My mind went back to the moment I envisioned his face over the summer and when we both had our first flashback together.

"It's music." I paused. "I don't know why I didn't think of this before." I stood. "It's music. That's how we connect."

He rose, his mind going to the same place mine did. "You might be right."

"I am," I went to him. "When I started playing guitar again over the summer I saw you. At the time, I didn't know it was you, but I felt your presence. At the dinner, that song. Close Your Eyes, it was what gave us our first flashback. Music was a big part of our lives there. You got me into it, I made a career out of it. You were a dancer."

He nodded. "We made music together."

Did I know that? I don't think I knew it, but maybe I felt it.

"So maybe if we continue to play together we'll get all of our memories?" He offered. "Do you have another guitar at home?"

My head shook.

The only one I had I gave to him. Maybe if I had known Kylie was alive I would've saved it to give back to her.

"We'll figure it out." He assured.

After I got the fire up and burning we dug into the chicken salad sandwiches I made. Not to toot my own horn, but they were delicious.

"Are you going to tell your dad you're here?" I asked.

He popped a potato chip into his mouth and shook his head. "Too dangerous. He still doesn't know about Deucalion. I'd like to keep it that way." He glanced at me. "He asked about you,"

My eyebrows danced. "Did he want my number?"

His foot lightly kicked mine. "Gross,"

"If you think DILF's are gross..."

His eyes narrowed and I couldn't tell if he was actually mad or egging me on.

So I said, "It runs in the family I'm sure, you're definitely going to be a DILF when the time comes."

He leaned forward against his propped up knees. "Are you offering to make me one?" His eyes full of a playful promise that should've sent me running away with my track record, but it was Scott so it was endearing.

My brain froze and I said, "Erm," I blushed with a nervous laugh.

He reached over, picked up my hand and held it close to his face, his thumb ran over my ring finger. When his eyes met mine I blushed even harder.

Like a coward my gaze fell away.

"It was my mother's wedding ring," He muttered. "She was dead there, too. I could feel it."

My eyes snapped to his in remorse. "I'm sorry, Scott."

"I don't remember what happened, but I remember feeling like she'd be really excited for us." He nodded, his thoughts far away in his warm eyes.

I didn't know what to say, so I intertwined my fingers with his.

He rested his gaze on mine. "Things seemed easier for them, why can't they be like that for us?"

I chewed on it, then said, "We don't know that they had it easier. Maybe they had it harder. Maybe we're the lucky ones."

"I definitely didn't feel lucky until I met you so..."

A smile broke out on my face and my eyes softened. "Now I know how she fell for you there, such a sweet talker you were."

He grinned. "No," His eyes went beyond me playfully. "I think it was my empanadas."

I laughed, my hand teasingly slapped his chest. "Shut up."

His eyes returned to mine, this time with the heaviness of our otherworldly marriage. "The more I remember about you, the easier it is for me to want what they had."

My hand disentangled from his and went to his face. "Believe me when I say that before you the thought of marriage and all that was a huge no."

His eyes ran over my face, the hunger rose in those chocolate orbs that told me he wanted to pull me close and love me. "And now?"

A spell of nerves fell over me and I blew out a heavy breath.

He made a disgusted face from my pickley breath.

I bursted out in laughter.

He reached into his pocket for a stick of gum, unwrapped it, and fed to me. He shook his head at my unintentional shenanigans.

I laughed uncontrollably while I chewed the funk away, then spit it out across the cave before my minty fresh mouth descended on his.

His hand pushed my hair out of the way, then held my face on both sides while his tongue took over my mouth. He pulled away first. Sadly.

My forehead rested against his while I caught my breath. Half the time he took it away just by being next to me.

"Back to you marrying me now," His eyes held a serious amusement.

My dimples came out for him. "Now I know I definitely don't want to marry you." I teased.

He knew I was joking, but he still narrowed his eyes. "Is that right?"

I nodded. "Yeah," I gave a tight grin to keep the laughter at bay. "You are the _last_ person I'd ever say yes to."

His brows rose. He flipped us over so he was on top of me. Cocky brown eyes glared into mine. "The last person, huh?"

"You don't even make the list," I grinned despite wanting to keep a playful seriousness about me.

With challenge in his eyes, he leaned more into me. His hips worked into mine with a pressure I hadn't felt in way too long. Thankfully, my period had ended yesterday.

Instinctively, I moved against him.

"After tonight you should probably go." My eyes scanned his.

His head shook. "I'm not going anywhere."

My heart dipped at his words.

"So you just want to use me for my body with no long term commitment?"

My hips opened up and I wrapped my legs around him. "Not just your body," I humped him back. "You make me cum like no one else has before." I smirked. "Maybe I am just here for your body."

He lowered his mouth to mine with a soft tug of lips. "Be serious with me for a second," He rose his head enough to look down at me. His hand pushed my hair back and trailed a finger down my face. His heart was on his sleeve like never before. "I know it's incredibly early in something that's not even official and maybe it's unfair to ask, but I've got to know. Can you picture more for us?" He scanned my face for any sign of disapproval.

Not wanting to lead him on unnecessarily I chose my words carefully. My hand reached up to gather his chin between my thumb and finger to pull his face closer to mine. "I still don't know if marriage is for me. Hell, I'm not even there yet to let you call me your girlfriend." My eyes burned into his. "But I do know that every second that I'm with you that both possibilities become easier for me to accept. That's a big deal for me." Butterflies flapped in my stomach. "And I'm not saying that I want to marry you, but like I said, I can see how she fell for you. It was incredibly effortless. That's what I'm afraid of." I admitted.

He gave a slight nod. "You have no idea."

With a ghost of a grin on my lips, I brought his down to mine again.

We peeled each others clothes off, our hands everywhere.

His mouth went to my neck as his fingers worked in and out of my pussy, his thumb focused on my clit.

My hand slid up and down his erect cock like I longed to do in the past week.

The cave filled with our moans, the fire a few feet from us heated things up considerably.

The closer we got to orgasming the louder our noises bounced off the walls.

He looked down at me when he entered me bare.

This time around we didn't bother with the bdsm stuff. It was just us in the moment. The heat of the fire on our skin, our hearts pumping faster with our for once slow movements. This wasn't a heated anger fuck. It was how sex should be between two people; intense and powerful, and scarily open.

I'd never been scared like that having sex, in the good way. In the way that I was afraid at any moment I might break and say something along the lines of 'I love you'. Saying that to Scott would not only change everything between us, but I'd be leaving myself open for heartache from a man. Was I ready for that? Would I ever be? Scott was a good a candidate as any to test run it on. When the time was right.

My arms draped over his shoulders as he slid in and out of me in the most beautiful way.

His warm breath fanned across my skin, his eyes laid claim to mine. Probably the moment we first looked at each other.

He leaned down to press his mouth to mine, that was it.

I grinned then laughed against his lips.

"What?" His face broke out into a smile.

"I was just thinking about my dad taking our pictures."

His brow arched. "That's what you're thinking about when we're having sex?" He cracked a grin. "Do you have a daddy kink you want to tell me about?"

I laughed some more. "Probably. What was he thinking? Like we wouldn't catch him."

His lips trailed to under my neck and he grinned when I moaned. "He probably just wants pictures for our hypothetical wedding."

My eyes rolled, but I didn't knock the joke. "Maybe," I flipped us over.

He sat up with his back against the wall, his hands spread against the skin on my hips while I rode him at a pace that should be ticketed for driving under the speed limit.

We wanted this to last and having this moment with him suddenly felt better than the others. Without approving it ourselves, we leveled up in our relationship.

Somehow without being frozen in place, my mind flashed back and forth between her life and mine. The both of us riding Scott. The both of us moaning. The both of us with our hearts open for him.

"Can you feel...?" I couldn't get out the rest of the sentence from the pleasure that wracked through my body. My eyes went back in my head.

His hips met mine. "Yeah..."

I wasn't alone in experiencing this sort of double sex scene.

There was an odd thrill of watching other people have sex. Like we were having sex and watching porn while doing it. I'd be weirded out if it didn't feel so good.

"Scott," She moaned above him.

My head tilted back. "Scott,"

Her Scott took her nipple in his mouth.

My Scott wrapped his wet lips around my sensitive bud and tugged with teeth while he slammed inside me.

"Holy fuck." I cried out.

Her hand went to his hair.

Mine went to his hair and pulled.

He got the message and brought his mouth to mine.

She was close to cumming and rode him fast with her forehead on his.

I pulled away from the kiss and threw my head back as I neared the edge.

"Oh, God." She groaned. "I love you, Scott."

My hands tightened around his shoulders. "Fuck, I love-" My eyes snapped to his.

While our motions didn't stop, he stared at me with wide hopeful eyes.

"You what?" He wrapped his arms around me to hold me closer while his hips worked over time.

I was so close and I didn't want to ruin what could be the best orgasm of my life.

To fix what we both know what was about to come out of my mouth, I moaned, "I love your cock."

While that probably wasn't what he wanted, it worked enough for him to shoot his hot nut in me.

My mouth attacked his until his high faded, then we fell to the ground.

We laid there, sweaty, breathless, and together.

"Wow," I muttered, my eyes on the ceiling of the cave.

He looked at me and smirked. "That was a two way street."

I turned my eyes on his. "How are you so perfect?"

His dimples took over his face. "I'm not perfect," He traced the skin on my arm. "But when people like us find each other we become perfect for each other."

My eyes rolled playfully. "Sap."

He chuckled. "You love it."

"Maybe," I grinned.

His eyes stopped on mine at the half confession. "I like 'Maybe'."

To give him something to hold onto, I said, "I like 'Maybe' too."

We froze with the familiarity of our minds giving us another memory.

" _Malia," He called._

 _The coyote showed its teeth at him, the blue eyes sensed his Alpha red pair. She backed away and ran for another direction not liking the threat._

 _Scott followed frantically._

 _Once he cut her path off she growled at him._

 _He gave only a glimpse of an Alpha roar. He held much more power than he knew at the time._

 _The coyote turned into a girl. Me._

 _She laid on the ground, her torso turned around to inspect Scott and her hand in a much confused state._

 _He looked at her with one knee on the forest floor, a look of bewilderment on his wolfed out face._

 _They stared at each other and even though the girl didn't yet know what she would feel for him, loyalty and longevity sat in her heart._

We fell back into the present.

Our eyes locked.

"The night we met." He said.

We actually remembered it. Finally.

Our minds grabbed us again for another ride.

 _The heartache of Henry's rejection filled her chest while she sat in the comfort of her cave._

 _Scott went to her crying side and held her close until she tried to make a move on him and he stopped her in her emotional state._

 _I guess, that Scott wasn't so different after all._

 _She had woken up from a night of sleep to find Scott sitting at the lip of her cave._

 _The air between them was morbid at best._

 _She went to go sit next to him and they talked about her running away. Henry had just died. Murdered actually._

 _"What if there was some supernatural fix though?" She looked to him. "What if we can bring him back?"_

 _His brown eyes saddened. "There isn't." His gaze lowered. "I tried after Allison..."_

 _Allison was dead?_

 _Soon the pack's howls filled the air for miles._

Our mind's released us.

My head lolled forward, a wave of nausea hit me.

Scott's eyes focused on my face. "Lia," He brought his hand up and wiped the wetness away from under my nose. When he pulled away blood coated his fingers.

My eyes widened as we locked eyes.

ALLISON'S POV:

It was nice actually being back in classes and back in the dorm. My dad was still at the motel, but I was in my dorm again. It felt good to have the responsibility back. I wanted the underclassmen to come to me with their problems or just to chat. While I wasn't under any delusions that they'd rush to me with zealous, I still held out hope they'd confide in me when they needed.

Just when my hall meeting wrapped up, Stiles walked off the elevator.

He smiled at me as he leaned against the wall, looking all sorts of delicious.

I tried to hide my excitement from seeing him.

The students rose to go to their rooms. A few of them looked between us and whispered amongst themselves.

Janet came up to me, her blonde pixie cut always made me think of tinkerbell. "Is that your boyfriend?" She whispered.

Stiles headed our way.

My face reddened. "Uh, I don't know..." I gave a nervous chuckle. "Maybe."

She gave me a look. "Allison,"

"Don't you have a test to study for, Janet?" I lovingly sent her on her way.

Stiles stood in front of me. "Hi," He grinned.

"Hi," My dimples appeared.

He leaned forward for a kiss.

I moved back. "Not in front of my kids." I playfully chastised.

With a raised brow he backed us into my room, then shut the door. He pulled me to him and kissed the breath out of me. Ever since he came back from rescuing Kylie we'd been really great. We talked about a lot of things, things that weren't on the table before our feelings came out. We did it. A lot. What can I say? He was really good at it.

I pulled away to catch my breath.

He moved his mouth down my jaw.

That was my spot, he knew that.

I gave a breathy laugh. "Did you come here for a reason, Stiles?"

"To do this," He picked me up and carried me to my desk, his hands rested on my thighs.

My hands unbuckled his belt. "Fine by me."

A grin formed on his mouth as he kissed my lips. "I lied, that's not why I came over here."

My hands paused. "Then why'd you come?"

"To get you to help out with the finishing touches on Malia's apartment."

I perked up. "He's still sending stuff?"

He nodded. "Gotta hand it to Peter. He may be a psychopath, but he cares about his daughter. This apartment is much needed. The girls need to get out of that motel."

"Agreed." I hopped down. "I can't wait for her to see it!" I danced.

He chuckled at my excitement. "Have you talked to her lately?"

"We facetimed this morning," I winked. "Jealous?"

He folded his thick arms across his chest. "A little. She doesn't facetime me."

I grabbed my running shoes from my closet and laced up on the bed. "You can't have it all."

His eyes playfully rolled. "No, just a beautiful girl that drives me crazy."

I grinned as I stood. "Let's go fix up this place. Malia deserves it."

He nodded. "Agreed."

I closed the door behind us.

LIAM'S POV:

Theo grabbed the other end of the couch and carried it with me to the apartment.

We set it down with a huff.

"Not that I don't mind moving all of this furniture in, but why didn't Peter spring for movers?" He asked.

Allison walked by with a box in her arms. "Because he knows we'd do it." She looked at me. "And no one invited him."

"Be nice," I advised, I looked at him.

He let it roll off of him.

We headed back out to the moving truck.

I picked up a chair.

"So," I started. "How was practice this morning?"

He looked up at me with grayish blue eyes. "It could've went better." He shrugged with two boxes stacked in his huge arms. He motioned for me to go in front of him. "I don't really know what I'm doing."

"You knew what you were doing with me." I walked down the elevated ramp. "How is this any different?"

He followed. "It's different because I wasn't getting paid to do it. I wanted to help you. And maybe seeing you shirtless was a perk." He teased.

My face reddened. "You don't have to train me to see me shirtless." I threw a smirk over my shoulder. "Just ask." I turned around with a grin.

He almost tripped over the edge with his eyes glued to my ass. I could tell.

"Noted."

Not that I didn't like making him squirm, realizing I had the ability to was astounding, but ever since last night he's been a little weird. A little off somehow. I didn't want to say it was me because we weren't together, but there was something going on between us.

After we all had Malia's apartment set up we pulled up for a late lunch at a BBQ place on the side of the road. When our food came we sat outside at a picnic table. The slight breeze rustled our clothes and hair, but it was nice after the work we did.

I knew I wasn't imagining Theo's weirdness when he sat on the other side of the table and not next to me. He didn't look up from his plate while the others glanced at me with intrigued eyes, but they didn't say anything as we dug in.

Kira nudged my foot next to me. She gave a funny face with her eyes crossed. "I think I need glasses." She looked at the others.

I laughed loudly and the others joined in.

She stole a chip chip from my plate.

I stole one from Lydia's.

She stole one from Allison's who stole one from Stiles'.

Stiles looked at Theo with unsure eyes. "Can I have one of your chips?"

Theo tore his eyes away from the road to face him. "Huh?"

"You okay?" Kira asked.

He nodded, not really meeting any of our eyes. "Yeah, no. I'm good."

Even though my eyes stared holes into him he never looked at me.

Just like that the small light heartedness at the table disappeared. We all ate in casual silence.

When we were dropped off at my dorm he hesitated before going in.

I looked back at him. "You coming?"

"No, I've actually got some stuff to take care of." He gestured behind him, still not meeting my eyes. "So I'll see you later."

I nodded. "Okay," I would've offered to help him, but he seemed so in his head that my presence probably wouldn't have done squat. So I went up to my room.

Mason sat at his desk with the chair propped back, his feet on the desk with a book in his lap. "Hey, man."

"Hey," I plopped down on my bed, my arm over my eyes.

"Where's Theo?"

I shrugged. "Out. He seemed a little moody. Did he say anything to you?"

The chair scraped against the floor while he turned around. "No, but there's something I want to talk to you about."

My arm fell to my side, then I sat up. "What's up? Is his presence too much?"

His hand raised. "No, it's not that. It's just how much do you really know about him?"

"I know enough."

The paperback book in his hands bended. "Look, I know we haven't bonded that much or whatever, but as your roommate I have to look out for you."

I motioned for him to go on.

"At the party last night I overheard him on the phone. I don't know who he was talking to, but it didn't sound good."

My elbows rested on my knees. "Mason, you had a lot of jello-shots." I cracked a grin. "I'm surprised you're upright right now."

He waved it off. "No, I only had about three at that point."

I gave him a look. "You're a lightweight. Three for you is like seven for someone else." I joked.

His jaw clenched. "Okay, say I'm wrong. Say I misunderstood what he said. The look he gave me afterward ran chills down my body, Liam. Like he was prepared to get rid of me if I was a problem."

I stood and grabbed fresh clothes on the way to the shower. "You're looking out for me, I get it. But all you have are accusations, dude. Come to me when you have something concrete." I headed into the shower.

THEO'S POV:

As soon as I woke up guilt crashed down on me. What was I doing here? Why was I mooching off of these open-hearted people that actually had it in their hearts to help me when they thought I needed it?

And I did need it. Just not in the way they thought.

They seemingly trusted me.

Liam trusted me.

I didn't deserve it. As soon as the time came I had to do what I had to do.

I hadn't meant to get close to everyone, especially Liam in the way I had. I had the duty to, but I hadn't expected it to feel so right or happen so easily. The one thing I hadn't lied about was wanting to be better.

What I never told him was that what changed my tune from our initial meeting was a vision of him or a dream really.

 _I tipped back my flask as I leaned against the bar._

 _The bartender raised his brow at me._

 _"What?" I demanded. I pushed off it to head for the food table._

 _Someone intersected my path._

 _I could tell it was Liam right away from his scent, plus he gave off a heat signature that I grew accustomed to. And your body reacted a certain way to someone you had feelings for and I had a lot of feelings for him._

 _"Hey," He said._

 _"Hey," I side stepped him._

 _He stood in the way again. "Do you want to dance?"_

 _My brow arched. "Seriously?"_

 _His hand grabbed mine and pulled me along. "Seriously." He wrapped a hand around my waist and the other held my hand while he took the lead._

 _I cleared my throat. "Won't your date be jealous?" I teased._

 _"I sent him home." He paused. "I ended things with him."_

 _I nodded. "Are you okay?"_

 _He pulled me closer. "Aren't you going to ask why we broke up?"_

 _I sighed. "Okay, I'll play along. Why'd you break up?"_

 _"Because you exist." He said as if it were as simple as that. "I was upfront with Darius about what our arrangement was, when I realized that I go be even the tiniest bit happy with him in public or private and not question anything I knew that I could have that with you." His hand on my waist raised to my neck. "If you still want that?"_

 _I stopped dancing. "You want to talk about this now, here in front of all these people?"_

 _"Wasn't that sort of the point of all of this? For us to be able to have a couple's fight in public?" His voice riddled with amusement._

 _I gave a small laugh. "Is that what this is?"_

 _"If you'd let it be. I want to fight with you more about whatever, disagree with you on whatever, I don't care. I just want to be with you, Theo."_

 _A smile found my face. "Oh, I don't know about that. I'll go with you on one date and if it doesn't work out-"_

 _He brought my face down to his, his lips attacked mine. He kissed me with a certainty that this was what he wanted, that he'd wanted this for some time, and now that he had it he didn't want to let it go. When he pulled away he said, "It'll work out."_

 _My eyes drifted open with the realization that the darkness that I grew so used to was leaving, replaced by distant blurry figures. I squinted, then blinked a few times._

 _"Theo?" Liam asked. "What's wrong?"_

 _My hand went to his shoulder to steady myself. "My eyes," I tried to focus on something, but it was too hazy. "I think I can see again." My jaw clenched as I looked at different distant objects._

 _"Hey, look at me." He came into view. "Focus on me until it becomes clearer."_

 _I nodded slightly. My gaze zeroed on him until things weren't so blurry. His face filled my vision. His baby blue eyes soon stared back into mine._

 _Relief washed over him. "You can see me?"_

 _"I can see you." I breathed out a shaky breath, my hands grabbed his face, and I kissed him in the way I've wanted to do these past few years._

After that night I wanted to feel like how I felt in the dream; proud of who I was and surrounded by good people. And loved.

Maybe that was why I kissed Liam that second day on the steps. I wanted to feel that. What excited and terrified me was that I didn't, but I felt a familiarity when his lips touched mine. Like it was right, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

Now that we were sufficiently wrapped up in each other's lives I couldn't back out even if I wanted to.

I knocked on Coach Brunski's door.

"Come in," He answered.

I walked in with the knowledge that when this conversation was over I wouldn't feel so bad about Liam.

"Theo," He turned from his binder. "What can I do for you?"

"I need to talk to you about something, Coach."

He gestured for me to sit down. "I figured."

I sat in the chair in front of his desk. "I don't really know how to go about saying this, but the thing is,"

His hard brown eyes stared back into mine in interest.

I blew out a breath. "Liam and I are a..."

"Thing?" His brown brow rose. "I figured as much. He's gay as hell and you two don't know the meaning of discrepancy."

He could tell there was something going on between us after one practice? I thought I was being professional.

I leaned forward. "Look Coach, we're not a thing but we do live together. He's letting me stay with him. I really need this job,"

After everything was said and done with the gang I didn't know how I was going to keep it. Liam would never forgive me. None of them would.

"And I don't want that to jeopardize this." For my sanity, I held a look of desperation that didn't come easy. "Is there any way there's campus housing for me that comes with the job?"

He grunted, then sat back in his chair. "We don't really do that. You're going to have to find a place on your own."

I leaned on his desk. "If there's anything you can do, I'll take anything. A broom closet even. I can't afford a place yet. Can't the school take it out of my salary?"

He looked off to the side and scratched his neck. "I'll see what I can do, Raeken."

"Any chance it could be available today?"

He ducked his teeth, then picked up the office phone. "Yeah, you have one?" He nodded a moment later. "Great, I owe you one, Larry." He hung up, his gaze fell onto me. "Happy?"

I nodded. "Thank you," Relief flooded me. "I really appreciate it." I stood to shake his hand. "Thank you."

He raised his hand. "Don't mention. Just keep doing what you're doing at practice. If you can improve the rest of the team like you improved Liam after a few days then we'll call it even, okay?"

"Yeah," I nodded.

He grabbed his binder again. "Was there anything else, son?"

"No, Coach. Thanks again." I headed for the door.

"Head to the athletic dorm. They've got a place ready for you. Some students left some furniture and bedding. They'll give you credit to wash whatever you need to wash. Alright, see you tomorrow."

I gave an appreciative wave before I left.

The Desk Aid pointed me into the right direction with a room key.

I recognized a few athletes from around campus and posters hung up.

A few of them nodded my way. I guess they heard about my new position.

The room wasn't all that big, but it was enough for me. Just me. I thanked whatever God that was listening for this opportunity and prayed he'd forgive me when the others wouldn't. Truly, I didn't know what I'd do when it was all over. If Deucalion had his way and Kira, Lydia, and Malia were going to die I wouldn't be here much longer. Scott, if he didn't die in the process, would definitely come after me.

The little bit of food I ate earlier worked its way up my throat without notice. The alcohol from last night came up with it.

At the end of the day I had to do this for Deucalion, if I didn't he wouldn't deliver on his end of the deal. As much as I could see myself with this group of people as pack I knew realistically that wasn't an option in my endgame. Even if I let myself develop anymore feelings for Liam I could only protect him but so much. I hoped when the time came he wouldn't be involved.

My stomach dipped and I rushed to the bathroom in time to unload in the sink. Once I was emptied out I sank to the beige linoleum to close my eyes and wallow in self-pity.

SCOTT'S POV:

The next morning I woke to the sound of wood splitting.

I headed to the window to see Peter chopping wood with an axe in hand. From here I could tell he still struggled to keep his cool. The only reason I hadn't retaliated because of my mom was for Malia's sake. I wasn't that selfish as to make her life any harder right now. But one day he'd get what was coming to him, even if it wasn't by my hand.

When I got dressed and headed downstairs I stopped in my tracks. My dad sat on the couch with Malia and Henry on either side of him.

"Dad?"

They turned at my arrival.

He stood.

My eyes went to Malia. "You called him?"

She rose. "Yeah," She ran her hand through her hair like she did when she was stressed. "I have to stay here and deal with things. You have to go back to your life."

My forehead creased. "So you called my dad?"

"I thought you'd listen to him because you wouldn't listen to me." She came to my side. "Don't get me wrong, I love that you're here, but I can't be responsible for ruining your life."

I pointed at her. "That's a bit dramatic, don't you think?"

Her hands clasped around my raised hand. "You have a pack to get back to, school. The longer I keep you from that the harder it will be to get back into the swing of things."

She came from a good place, but it shouldn't have been her decision to make. Bringing my dad here, while it was nice to see him, swept my feet from under me. I couldn't stay now without throwing a temper tantrum.

"What about Kylie?" I voiced. "Or haven't you told them yet?"

Her eyes narrowed at my blow back, but it had to come out eventually.

"What are you talking about?" Henry asked. "What about Kylie?"

Malia turned back to him. "We don't know for sure, she still needs to go to a doctor."

"Malia Elizabeth Tate, tell me what's going on right this instant." Henry pushed his glasses back on his face as he stood.

She paused, unsure of what to say or do.

My hand reassuringly pushed her forward.

Her arms crossed her chest as she admitted, "Kylie's pregnancy. It's Deucalion's baby."

Henry collapsed back on the couch. He ripped his glasses off and folded over with a shake of his head. He looked up at her with tears in his helpless eyes. "Are you sure?"

She nodded. "We heard a heartbeat, dad. She's a few months pregnant, the baby's forming."

A sob came from the stairs.

Kylie stood with her hand over her mouth in horror. She ran back up the stairs.

"Kyle," Malia called, then went after her.

The door slammed and locked.

Malia banged on the door.

Henry held his head in his hands as he cried.

My dad looked at me in confusion. I thought Malia had told him everything, but apparently not.

Peter stalked in with concern. He took in all of us and looked to me. "What happened, Scott?"

We had yet to have a conversation just the two of us, so when he spoke to me directly I had to compose myself to answer. It was challenging to hide the burning hate I had for him, but when I looked into Malia's eyes I could see the pride she had in me for refraining from pummeling him. It was all I needed to keep the Alpha at bay. When the time came I would have a conversation with him, I just wanted to know how he could give someone the bite without their consent or knowledge of what they'd turn into. It ruined your life in more ways than it made it better.

My throat cleared. "Deucalion impregnated Kylie." There was no sweet way to sugarcoat it.

Kylie wasn't Peter's so he shouldn't have felt the hot anger that filled him even more at the news, but he did.

Malia continued to bang on the door. "We need to talk,"

Kylie's muffled cry carried to our ears.

His jaw clenched while he headed for the front door.

I stood in his way.

He stepped aside.

I did the same.

"Get out of my way, Scott." His face transformed.

My head shook. "I can't let you go after him."

"And how are you going to stop me, boy?"

My eyes glowed red. "We can't go in blind. Trust me, I want nothing more than to hunt him down and tear him apart. He had my mom killed." My eyes glanced at my dad.

He visibly sagged at the news and turned toward the wall with his hands on his hips.

"For everything he's done he deserves Hell, but he's smart. If he's waited this long to resurface he's been plotting. If we don't get more information on him and his real endgame then we will lose." My eyes tried to reason with his. "Is that what you want?"

He growled. "I don't care about losing." He shoved me aside.

I followed him onto the porch. My hand pulled him back roughly. "Think about Malia,"

He shoved me off. "I am thinking about Malia!" He roared. "And what he did to her, Lydia, Kira, and Kylie."

"Peter," I stepped closer. "She needs you just as badly as she needs Henry. Don't take that away from her because you want to get revenge. We'll deal with Deucalion when we have the opportunity."

Shouting came from Kylie's room.

We rushed up there.

"Go away!" She screamed at Malia.

Malia tried to calm her down.

"Leave me alone!" She struggled against Malia's advances. "He only took me because he couldn't have _you_." She cried harder.

Malia's face fell even more. Her wet eyes met mine, then lowered to the ground as she held her sister.

I closed the door for their privacy and we all shuffled down the stairs into the kitchen over fresh coffee I brewed. Silence filled the air besides Malia lulling Kylie to sleep upstairs.

My dad came to lean against the counter with next me, his coffee mug in hand. He didn't say anything, he just stared at me.

I met his gaze.

He wasn't the worse dad like I cooked up in my head a week ago. He wasn't the best either, but he was trying which was all I ever wanted from him. I was grateful that Malia pushed me to fix things. Times like these were trying and I was glad he was around to be a support system.

After while, Malia descended the stairs with tired eyes. She came to me feeling helpless.

I pulled her in for a hug and squeezed her as she cried into my chest.

LIAM'S POV:

With a sigh of satisfaction, I closed my Math textbook and shoved it onto the floor. I was caught up on my work and now I could rest.

Only I couldn't fall asleep because I was worried about Theo.

I'd grown used to his presence in the room, falling asleep had been a little easier with the extra muscle around to protect me. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't paranoid about Deucalion sending some goons to kidnap me for leverage. With Theo here I rested easier knowing he'd protect me if need be.

After several attempts at napping my phone vibrated behind me on the bed.

Deadly Sin: Are you at your dorm?

Me: Yeah.

Deadly Sin: Can you meet me outside? We need to talk.

I reread the message to make sure I got it right.

Me: On my way out.

I slid my socked feet into my Adidas slippers then made my way for the elevator, my legs were so tight today. No thanks to Theo's coaching.

Worry built in my chest. I was a little upset because I didn't know what was going on with him, but I couldn't expect him to tell me everything. But we had told each other a lot. So why was this so different?

He stood by the walkway with his hands in his new Lacrosse sweatpants. He stiffened when saw me.

"Hey," I greeted as I neared.

"Hey," He looked me up and down like I'd changed somehow.

My curiosity got the better of me and I asked, "So why am I meeting you out here? You can come in, you know."

He glanced off to the side. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Okay," I straightened up. "You have my attention."

His eyes couldn't stay on mine for very long. "I'm moving out."

My forehead creased. "What?"

"I've got another place." He cleared his throat. "I asked Coach to help me out."

I stepped closer. "Is that why you've been acting weird all day?"

He met my eyes and nodded.

"If you were worried about anybody finding out I wouldn't have said anything."

"Coach knew," He looked away again, his tone grew cold. "I just think it's the best decision for right now. It wouldn't look good if an Assistant Coach lived with a student."

My mind went over what he said, while I knew he was right, it still felt like something else was going on here.

My eyes narrowed. "Is this about yesterday?" After he gave me a blowjob I went down on him. It wasn't my first time by any means, but things escalated quickly and he wanted to have sex and I wasn't ready.

He stilled. "What?" His eyes held concern. "No," He neared me. "No, of course not." He pulled me off to the side when a group of chatty girls passed us.

I could tell from his eyes that he wanted to open up to me, but something held him back.

"Really, cuz it kind of feels like it." I accused.

His hands rested on my shoulders. "Liam," Anxiety filled his voice. "This isn't about that, I swear." His eyes studied mine. "This is just how it has to be now. Do you get what I'm saying?"

My brow arched. "Yeah, you're 'breaking up with me'."

He sighed. "I don't really have a choice. If I can keep this job then things will change for me for the better. You're still a part of that."

"Just not _with_ you."

While he didn't look happy about it he still nodded.

My hands shoved his off of me. "You know, you really should've figured that out before you kissed me, Theo." I backed away. "I'm sorry, it's 'Coach Raeken' now." I turned away from him with the stinging of disappointed tears.

"Liam," He called.

I continued for the doors.

"Liam!"

Once back in the comfort of on my now lonely room I slid into bed and cried. Not just because of Theo, but because of how crazy my life now was and I couldn't have one good thing in it without it being ripped away.

SCOTT'S POV:

Henry started on dinner.

When Malia assured him he didn't have to cook he protested, probably welcoming the distraction.

My dad didn't want to intrude any longer so he gave his condolences and said his goodbyes.

I followed him outside to his SUV.

We stood by the door.

He sighed. "Scott, I know that you have a need to help everyone and I love that about you...but this isn't your fight. You need to leave this to her family."

I knew he was right, but I couldn't just leave.

"Who I would be if I left, dad?"

He stared at me, then gave a nod. "If the situation were reversed I know Malia would be having this conversation with Henry and Peter."

I hoped she would. No, I knew she would.

"When you get back to school let me know so we can talk more. I need to know everything."

I don't know about everything, but I should fill him in on what's been going on. He deserved that much.

He pulled me into a hug. "Please, be careful."

I hugged him back. "I will. You, too."

He slapped my back before he opened the door. "Tell Malia I said thank you."

My head nodded. I watched him pull off, then headed back inside.

Malia went to go check on Kylie for dinner, but she was asleep apparently. That, or she didn't want to be around anybody.

Dinner was quiet, uncomfortably so.

By the time everyone was finished with mostly full plates Kylie came down when I started on the dishes. I washed the silverware first to get any sharp objects out of the way. I placed the carving knife in the knife block, then started on the plates.

"Hey, you want some dinner?" Henry asked Kylie.

Malia rose to help me, her cold shoulder understandable, but flat out wrong. She dried the dishes I placed in the dish rack.

"No, thanks." Kylie answered.

"We just want you to know we're all here for you," Peter told her.

I faced her.

She wore a big jacket and sweatpants.

She gave a half smile for my benefit, then her eyes fell on Malia. "Lizzie,"

Malia turned to her with a rigid jaw.

She came to hug her. "I'm sorry,"

I went to the bathroom to keep myself out of it. My dad was right, there was nothing I could do here, but that didn't mean I wanted to stop trying. In the passing weeks I thought of Malia as my family, I realized. But they were her family more so than I could ever be.

While in the bathroom I came to the conclusion that it was my time to go back to school, no matter how much I thought Malia needed. She didn't. She needed her family.

I walked out the bathroom to find Henry and Malia at the table still. Peter went back out to chopping the wood.

"Malia, can I talk to you for a minute?"

She looked up from the table, her hand against her forehead. She nodded.

We went out on the porch and sat on the couch.

Before I could get a word out she said, "You want to leave."

Shocked, I stared at her, then nodded.

She stood. "Okay," She looked at me. "I don't know when I'll be back."

"Wait a minute," I grabbed her hand. "That's all you have to say?"

Her shoulders shrugged. "What do you want me to say?"

"That you don't want me to go?"

She gave me an exhausted look. "Of course, I don't want you to go, Scott. But it's not all about me, is it?"

Well, when you put it like that.

I stood and pulled her hips to mine. "Say the word and I'll stay." My eyes scoured hers.

A grin that didn't quite reach her eyes or her lips crossed her face. "Don't make this harder than it has to be." Her hand came to my face. "If things were different I'd be going back with you. I'm sorry."

My hand grabbed hers. "You have nothing to apologize for. You need to do this, I get it. If it were my mother I would drop everything, too."

Her eyes softened. "I'm not dropping you," An actual smile came to her face. "Just putting you on hold."

My head tilted back. "Oh, is that what this is?" I gave a faux mad tone.

She laughed. "Can you just go before I do something stupid like ask you to stay?"

"Fine," I gazed down at her. "But first I need to do this," My mouth fell to hers to demonstrate that I wouldn't be going anywhere emotionally. Physically, I was definitely leaving.

When I pulled away she pulled me back for a kiss that left me weak in the knees a little.

I gathered myself. "Wow."

She grinned her dimpled grin, then laughed at the look of awe on my face. "And don't you forget it."

My head bobbed obediently. "Trust me, I won't." I said like a horny fourteen year old who just got his first kiss.

"Yeah, okay." She headed for the door with a lazy grin.

I followed.

"I'm going to go talk to Peter." She headed out back.

Henry pondered over an empty coffee mug. "You're leaving, aren't you?"

I nodded, but realized he didn't see that. "Yes, sir. My dad was right. This is family matters. I shouldn't overstep."

He looked up at me with soft yet hard eyes. "You are family, Scott. If you're important to Malia, you're family."

Taken by his words, I cleared the tears from my throat and nodded. "Thank you."

"And you're one of the only people that Kylie opens up to."

Wanting to check on her, I turned my hearing toward upstairs. There was just the beat of her heart that seemed not as steady as usual. She wasn't crying. So what was she doing?

The smell of blood finally wafted to my nose. Human blood. Her blood.

She wasn't on her period obviously, so it had to be another cause. It was fresh.

My eyes went to Malia as she talked with Peter.

I was about to jet up the stairs when I noticed the carving knife missing from the block of knives I washed earlier. That was why she came down here in that big jacket and hugged Malia. She'd been standing right in front of it, the only obstacle between her weapon and victory.

I dashed up the stairs and kicked the door down. "Kylie," I looked around the room in haste, then found the source of blood from the bathroom.

She laid in the empty bathtub, the bloody knife on the floor, her wrists cut open jaggedly. Her desolate eyes met mine. Her pale lips moved with what energy she had left. "Let it be." She begged.

"MALIA!" With thick tears in my eyes I rushed for her. "MALIA!" I cried.

She had lost a lot of blood, her heart was going to give out soon.

In pure desperation, I bit down on her shoulder, her back, then her arm.

The shuffling of feet hit the stairs hard.

I turned to them with lost eyes.

"No!" Henry snatched Kylie up in his arms. "Kylie,"

Malia dropped to her knees in absolute defeat, heavy tears welled in her crushed brown eyes.

Henry tried to stop the bleeding. "You're going to be okay." He grabbed the towel to press into her wrists. "It's going to be fine."

Black blood oozed out of her nose and ears, letting us know her body rejected the bite. It wasn't enough.

Malia's face crumbled and she let out a roar so loud the windows shattered. She curled in on herself.

Peter picked her up and carried her away. His eyes found mine, he nodded.

I was left with a hysterical Henry trying to coax her back to life. What had we done?

A/N: Please review.


	12. Lonesome Summer

The song for this chapter is Slow Meadow - Lonesome Summer (SleepMusic YouTube)

LYDIA'S POV:

A sat up in the hotel bed, my body covered in sweat. I looked over at Kira who slept peacefully for once.

With a huff, I threw my feet over the bed and sagged toward the tiny bathroom. Malia's apartment was a step up. There was room enough for us all, but if Kylie wanted to permanently stay there one of us would have to double up or move out. I could find a place to stay if need be, Malia needed time with her sister, more time than the past week she's spent with her. They had years to catch up on.

I flicked the lights on in the bathroom, my eyes squinted, and I stilled at the sight before me.

My strawberry blonde hair seemed to glow with darker tones, my eyes danced in invitation while my smirk widened. A breath-takingly beautiful melody floated around me. I couldn't look away. She was so beautiful.

As soon as I reached out to touch the mirror my hand melted into it like it was a portal. My heart quickened at the prospect. I moved my hand on the other side with nothing in reach, so I placed my other hand into the substance. Testingly, I separated my hands and a hole rippled open, big enough to stick my head in.

The second my head was through the sound of pleading cries filled the air. Men's cries. Them begging for mercy or a quick death.

Horrified, I pulled out of the portal with a feeling of panic heavy in my chest. The reflection in the mirror was back to normal this time. Except there was blood on my face. A sense of power filled me with the knowledge that it wasn't my own. My red-stained hand raised in the mirror to wipe away the blemish, but it only made it worse.

I cried out. "What did I do?" I looked down at my hands with the expectancy that they'd be bloody, but there was the same pale tone I walked into the bathroom with. My head swam in confusion. I looked back up at the mirror in horror because I was still blood covered. I raised my hand and it too appeared drenched in the liquid that ran a chill of excitement through me.

My back hit the wall and I stared at my reflection until it turned back into the creature it wanted me to me, her heart felt fleeting and cold. I was scared beyond belief, but she wasn't. She welcomed the feeling.

I didn't want to hurt anyone. I didn't know why she wanted to.

She opened her mouth and the familiar melody came out.

My feet lead me to it instinctively, but her beauty held me captive.

She extended a hand.

I took it only to be pulled forward.

Her hand wrapped around my neck and squeezed until I couldn't get air through.

With a gasp, I sprang up the bed. My hands went to my neck as I caught my breath. Sweat stuck to my skin, my hair stringy against my forehead.

Kira popped up in much the same fashion. She met my gaze with heavy worry in her glowing orange eyes. "Something's wrong with Malia."

With a nod of understanding, we shot out of bed and prepared ourselves to go check on them.

MALIA'S POV:

I sat in the middle of my bed with my knees to my chest, my gaze off into the distance ahead of me.

She was dead. My baby sister was dead. Again.

She wanted to end her life because of Deucalion. How could she do this? How could she do this to us? How could she do this to me?

It was so selfish. Yet I understood completely.

I had cried enough over the last few days so I was dried out. Or maybe it was the shock. How I was upright at the moment was surprising. What I really wanted to do was get in the fetal position and never move again.

Peter sat on the end of my bed. He wasn't exactly the parent best suited for comfort, but he was here and that's all that mattered.

I wanted to be there for Henry, but I knew Scott was with him. Even if I wanted I couldn't muster up the energy or will to go back to that wretched room ever again in my life.

His cries of desperation could be heard throughout the house even if you didn't have super hearing.

Peter shot off the bed and went to them. "Scott,"

Moments later my door creaked open and Scott appeared.

I couldn't look at him because I was afraid of what I'd see.

Kylie meant something different to him, I wasn't sure what. If I even saw him emote I don't think I could hold it together.

Nonetheless, his weight dipped the bed as he got behind me. His arms wrapped around me, his legs on either side of me, and pulled me as close to him as I could possibly be.

My chin trembled with the oncoming of hot tears.

He tightened his hold on me. "You're not alone."

I nodded even though it felt like it.

SCOTT'S POV:

When Malia fell asleep I lifted her head off my shoulder and rested her down on her bed, then I slipped away.

Peter met me in the hall with guarded eyes, a hint of worry in them. "Where are you going?"

"To get her something she needs." I started for the stairs.

He grabbed my arm. "She needs you."

My eyes went to his to find desperation.

That was a new look on him.

I tore my arm away. "She needs this more."

"You don't know how wrong you are, Scott." His voice haunted me all the way to the WalMart.

He was wrong. Malia loved only a few things. Her dads. Kylie. Lydia, Kira, and Allison. Music. That was it.

Sure we had love for each other, that much was obvious. She couldn't say it, even if she felt it. Because of that, I was afraid to think it. But I knew what had sprouted in me the moment I saw her in that classroom on the first day. Even if it was too soon to say it, think it, or admit it...I felt it.

So that's how I knew Malia didn't feel the same way as I did. She needed these strings surrounded by wood to make her feel better in a way that I couldn't.

With the new guitar in the car I debated about calling the others to let them know the tragic news. The only thing that stopped me was that Malia should be the one to tell them and I knew they'd overload her with texts and calls or probably drive down here. She needed time to herself.

Before I went in I took the guitar out of the package so it was ready for her.

Henry sat on the couch with Kylie's favorite doll from when she was little in his lap, a blank stare on his face. He had been through so much in the last week. Finding out the only daughter he thought he had left was raped, then Kylie being alive and manipulated, and lastly her successful suicide.

A bitter taste in my mouth gathered at the term "successful suicide". Like you won a prize for completing it.

Peter walked up from behind the couch, placed a cup of coffee in front of him, but he didn't take it. He only continued to stare. Peter placed his hand on Henry's shoulder in support. He looked at me while I ascended the stairs, his focus on the guitar in my hands. He nodded to himself.

Malia was surprisingly awake when I walked into her room. She sat up when she saw me. "I thought you left." Her voice heartbreakingly tiny for someone so strong and confident in so many areas of their life.

I shook my head. "No, I went to get you something."

Her gaze fell heavy on the instrument in my hands.

I held it in the air. "Do you want to play?"

Her hyper alert eyes assessed it like it could be used against her until she reached out for it.

"I'm just gonna sit and let you play." I sunk into the chair at her computer desk.

She held it properly, but her hands faltered. She chewed on her lip for an answer until she began to hum, her hands strummed. Her usual confidence was gone. Everything about her was unsure from her fleeting eyes, quivering lips, and big, brown, helpless eyes that punched a hole through my chest. Her hands quaked when her gaze caught something behind me.

I snapped around to find the bottle of prenatal vitamins we bought Kylie yesterday.

"Shit." I snatched the bottle and stalked over to the trash where it wouldn't hurt her. When I turned around I stilled.

Tears streamed down her face while she hugged the guitar for dear life. Her wet eyes met mine. "It hurts." She broke out into a sob.

I rushed over and took the guitar from her arms. Maybe Peter was right about this. Maybe I was what she needed. Maybe it was wishful thinking, but I didn't care right now. I only cared about making her hurt go away.

The moment my heart sank was when I neared and she reached out for me like a child to a parent, like they had the power to make their world better again. While I didn't have that kind of power over Malia's world, I could still take some of her pain away.

My arms wrapped around her tight while she wept into me, my hand grasped her arm. I watched as the darkness slid up my veins, the mandatory pain along with it. I bit back a groan so she wouldn't feel bad about it.

MALIA'S POV:

I waited until nightfall to creep down the hallway, shift into my coyote form and descend the stairs as quietly as I was able to. Tip toeing helped in cases like these.

Earlier in the day, I stashed a pair of clothes under the porch so I could have some to change into. Just as I finished getting dressed footsteps quietly tapped the floor. I ducked down to not be seen.

The door opened.

Scott's scent drifted toward me from where he stood on the porch. "I'm coming with you." He whispered.

At this point, there was no reason to try to hide. He could smell me and hear my heart thumping.

I stood while my hand pocketed my tiny case of Wolfsbane in my shorts. "No, you're not." I headed toward my car.

He followed. "You're going to find Deucalion, aren't you?"

"Go home, Scott. Your real home. Deal with your issues, let me deal with mine."

He grabbed my forearm tight. "Wherever you are is where I belong. I'm not going to let you do this alone." His eyes read mine.

I pulled my arm away, my eyes averted to the side. "I'm not going back,"

He tried to catch my gaze. "To school? No, I get it. I wouldn't want to either, but this is your life. Take the semester off. Spend it with your family."

My head shook, I opened my door. "I'm not going back to any of it." I slid into the seat.

He ran over to the other side and got in.

"I don't need you here," I told him. "I can kill him on my own."

He buckled in. "Well, I'm not going anywhere."

The syringe of wolfsbane burned in my pocket. I didn't want to have to do this to him, but there was no way he was coming to fight Deucalion with me. He'd get himself killed for sure. There were too many men under his control and Scott wouldn't stop until he put down the man that had his mother murdered.

"Hold on then." I was going purely off his scent, which could lead me a thousand different places, which was why we hadn't done it before. This time I was properly motivated.

The sky crackled with lightning and I had a gut feeling that Kira was close. If Kira was close then that meant Lydia was with her. They would never let me go to Deucalion by myself, so I had to do this now before it was too late.

My moment arose when the lightning hit miles away on the far right so Scott's attention was on that. I uncapped the syringe quickly and stabbed it into his neck to inject it.

He momentarily froze, then turned to me with disbelieving eyes. "What are you doing?" His eyes weakened.

"I'm sorry." I slowed the jeep to a crawl.

"Lia," His voice became smaller, his consciousness became less of a problem. He tipped into the door. "Don..." His eyes closed.

I got out, opened his door, and carried him to a safer place alongside the road. I propped him against a tree and pulled out the syringe to throw it on the ground.

He was going to be so mad when he woke up, but this was the right thing to do.

My eyes welled at the prospect of leaving him here. It was either this or risk his life and I didn't want him to die for me because I couldn't lose him. I lov-I cared about him so much, probably more than he realized. Before I got him involved with all of this he was a good person. When we met he was firm in his belief of not killing people. Hell, he threatened to stop me if I had. Because of me, he killed people. Because of me, he changed who he was and what he believed was right.

I wasn't naive in thinking I'd come back from this mission so I took a moment to dig deep and search for the words that I couldn't say to anyone else other than family.

My hand went to his handsome face in a soft caress. My eyes ran over him.

If anyone had told me a month ago that I'd be this head over heels with anyone, namely Scott, I wouldn't have believed them. I thought we'd hook up a few times and then whatever. And I know I told him last night that I couldn't say those three words to him that he probably wanted to hear but was too afraid to ask...but when Kylie killed herself and I felt so alone in this world even surrounded by loved ones Scott was the only that made me feel like I had a person to hold onto. It was him.

When he bought me the guitar I thought it work to some degree, that it would give me some peace of mind if only for a moment, but it wasn't music that did that. It was Scott. That resonated in my heart and mind since. The only thing that I loved as much as my family was music and in the end, it was Scott that worked better for me.

So I shoved aside my pride for a few heart palpitating seconds and blew out a heavy breath. My lips pressed a kiss to his cheek and I sniffled. A tear spilled over my eyelid as I said into his ear, "I love you, Scott Alejandro McCall. If I don't find you again I'll find you in the next life. Promise." Knowing that there was a possibility I'd chicken out and stay with him, I kissed his mouth even if it was on the necrophilia side and dashed back to my car.

If I understood Kira's lightning pattern they were getting closer so it was time to go off-road. I turned the wheels so I could drive on the untouched land.

I chucked my phone out of the window and pressed forward with the death of my baby sister in the forefront of my mind. She was getting justice for her sacrifice today if it was the last thing I did and I had a feeling that it would be. I only prayed that my dads and friends would understand.

KIRA'S POV:

Lydia drove while I rested in the passenger seat, my feet up on the dashboard. She kept glancing at me when my lightning tailed us.

I kept my gaze out the window. Lydia was one of the two people that knew me inside and out. Taking a page of their book of friendliness I opened up my heart enough for one more person. Of course, Liam was gay so I didn't have to worry about him screwing me over or hurting me in a way I couldn't recover from.

If I told Lydia I've been having problems with my fox spirit I knew she'd worry herself to death trying to help me control it, but it wasn't her problem to control. It was mine. And I had to be woman enough to figure this out on my own. We were growing up and I needed to rely on myself more. It may look like I isolated even them out, but they were the ones that kept me going.

"I can tell what you're thinking and you know I get like this when I'm worried," I said with my arm propped on the open window, my forehead against my fist.

She sighed. "I know. I just wish she'd answer her phone. Or that Scott would."

I looked at her. "He's not answering either?"

One of her hands against the wheel opened in frustration. "No."

"Can't you track it? Make sure they're okay."

She looked at me and gave a small grin.

"What?" I questioned.

"Make sure they're okay? You're worried about Scott,"

The idea hadn't crossed my mind per say, but now that she pointed it out I wanted to take it back.

My eyes rolled. "Where Malia is Scott's not far behind."

"Do you care about Scott, Kira? Is this really happening?" She teased.

I aimed my hand at her and let out a singe of electricity. "Bite me."

She grabbed the wheel with one hand and used the other to throw a punch my way.

My hand blocked hers while she tried to deliver multiple blows. I wrapped my hand around her fist, a light smirk on my face.

She snatched her hand away. "You're lucky we're sisters or I'd hurt you." Her voice held little promise.

"Yeah, do you want to switch so you can track their phones?"

The car slowed down until she put it in Neutral. We got out and changed spots so she could work her smarty pants magic. I silently prayed that they were both okay, but I'd never tell Lydia that.

Dusk was breaking as we arrived at the stagnant location of their phones.

"Oh my God," Lydia leaned forward in her seat.

I found what she had.

Scott was laid against a tree, knocked out.

I sped up alongside the spot he was placed. "Do you see Malia?"

"No," Lydia shot out of the car before I even parked. She rushed to Scott's side. Her ability to care for anybody was one of the things I envied about her.

Part of me felt like my keeping people at arm's length was a blessing more often than not, but the times it was 'not' I hated that part of me.

I opened the door and went to them.

Lydia crouched down and lightly slapped his face a few times. "Wake up, Scott." She looked up at me with scared eyes.

I readied my hand to dance electricity across his skin until he gasped awake with widened eyes.

"Where am I?" He gathered himself.

Lydia rested her hands on his shoulders. "Relax,"

He looked up at me. "What happened?" He shook his head in confusion.

"That's what we want to know." I glanced around for Malia. "You said her phone was close by."

She pulled her phone out and showed it to me. About a quarter of a mile away. I grabbed her phone and headed in that direction. "I'll be back."

If anything happened to her there'd be hell to pay.

I tracked the phone to the spot it said it was. Only there was no Malia. I grabbed it and headed back for the others.

"Where is my daughter, Scott?" Peter's angry voice carried through the trees.

Oh no.

"I don't know," Scott answered. "She went after Deucalion."

I ran as fast as I could to get to them.

"And you didn't stop her?" Peter demanded.

Scott's head lowered. "I tried."

"Malia must've knocked him out with this," Lydia held up an empty syringe. "Wolfsbane would've done the trick."

Peter fumed, he reeled his arm back to throw a punch at Scott.

I skidded the last little bit of distance in front of Scott and caught the punch.

Peter looked remorseful that he had harmed me, but still said, "Get out of the way, Kira."

My eyes went to Lydia.

She stepped up with me to protect the only person in the world that had proven himself to be there for Malia when we weren't enough. Sure, I wished I'd been that person for her, but if it wasn't meant to be I couldn't fault her for being happy with Scott.

I glanced back at him.

He stood up on weak legs, but his guilty eyes held recognition for what this was; Us protecting an Alpha. He wasn't ours, but he'd bend over backward to help us and protect us like a good Alpha should. If I wasn't so stuck in my ways maybe I'd want to join in his pack. Malia would, I knew she would. And if Malia did, Lydia wouldn't be far off.

He gave a slight nod of gratitude.

I offered one back.

For some reason, it felt like I had protected him before in some other place, but I couldn't figure out where or how.

"Scott wouldn't just let Malia go to Deucalion by herself, you know that." Lydia defended. "This isn't his fault. Now we can either stand here all day or we can get the others to form a plan."

"I vote make a plan," I added.

Lydia cut me a pleased look.

"Not a word." I threatened.

Scott moved for Lydia's car in exhaustion. "We need to call Theo. He might know a location."

"Come back to the house," Peter instructed.

The three of us filed into her car with a wave of eerie silence over us.

MALIA'S POV:

With the jeep going full throttle my gaze burned into the current warehouse of operations. I was aware that finding this place had been easier than it should've been, but there was no way they could've known I was on my way. There was no one that could've told him.

A bead of regret and cowardice rolled around in me. I would most likely die in there, but now was not the time to turn around after what I did to Scott. Kylie's death would not go in vain.

My bumper rammed into the entrance, but not hard enough to get me through. I reversed and tried again. By this time everyone knew I was here. I tried to back up again, but my tires were stuck. I tried to go forward, but no such luck. My fists banged into the steering wheel.

A group of armed men and women circled my vehicle.

I debated what to do next. Fight and die before I had a chance to get to Deucalion. Or surrender and figure out a way to kill him once I got inside. I liked the latter.

My hands raised in the air. "Well, is someone going to open the door for me?" I looked to my left with awaiting eyes.

A man moved forward, his assault rifle ready while another opened the door for me. The second man shoved me against the jeep.

My face pressed against the metal while he cuffed me one of those with plastic handcuffs that were tightened way too much to the point of little circulation, which I supposed could be the point.

He grabbed me and we filed into the building through another entrance while a few stayed behind to take care of my jeep.

"Hey, don't scratch the paint!" I warned.

He pushed me forward.

I corrected myself before I fell. Taking mental breaths in and out was the only thing keeping me calm and from killing these bastards and getting free. If they didn't take me to Deucalion then I wouldn't find him until he wanted to be found. He waited all these years so something told me he had a lot of patience.

We rode in an elevator to the top floor, which was the second floor.

"A little unnecessary to have an elevator, don't you think?" I voiced in the small space with the armed men surrounding me.

No answer.

I shrugged.

The doors opened.

I was lead down the hall to a floor that I imagined Sam's Club or Costco's second floor would look like if there was an evil lair operation going on above it. Who knew, maybe there was?

A door at the end of the hall opened and out came a young girl. Her dark brown hair flowed past her shoulders. A white dress made her creamy skin look even paler. Her doe-like eyes met mine.

Everyone else fell out of flank except for the guard that cuffed me. We walked toward the girl.

She observed me then looked down at herself in comparison. "You must be Malia." Her sweetly calm voice said. "We've been waiting for you."

Interesting. So someone had tipped them off. The question was why hadn't they fled yet?

The three of us entered the room. There were a desk and chair with a single filing cabinet and nothing else.

His scent grew stronger which made bile rise in my throat.

With the door dead bolted behind us, my discomfort grew.

The chair swiveled around.

If there was some disbelief left in me that this monster was still alive it vanished at the sight of him.

My mind went back to that horrid night of victory we felt when we killed him years ago.

"Girls!" Deucalion called. "I know you're out there!"

The three of us huddled under the brush of leaves and rocks, the running water did a decent job of scattering our scents.

"I'm not going back." Kira mouthed.

"Me either." Lydia mouthed.

I nodded.

"Why are you hiding? What have you to be afraid of?" His voice carried goosebumps to our skin.

We were a bunch of preteens against a grown man. What could we do?

"The longer you hide the angrier I'll get and I don't think you'll like me angry ladies."

The odds weren't in our favor. Maybe if we split up, but that would mean someone would have to sacrifice themselves to get captured.

I moved forward.

Their hands grabbed me.

"GIRLS!" His voice grew closer.

We jumped out of fright. Our arms linked up as we looked at each other covered in sweat and fear. Either we fight together or die together. There was no in between.

We stood up in unison and walked out into full view on the smaller rocks by the water.

Deucalion jumped from high on a cliff to the ground, a satisfied grin on his disgusting face. "I knew you'd come to your senses."

"Not exactly," I said. "We won't go back with you. We want out."

His smirk faltered. "That's not going to happen. Who's going to want the three of you as ugly and useless as you are?"

Kira looked at her feet, fully believing what he said.

Lydia's free arm went behind her back and lifted her shirt to pull out one of his guns.

I tried not to look so obvious in shock and kept my eyes forward. "Somebody will," I assured. "My dad could be our Alpha." I just had to find him. He was flighty, he came and went when he wanted. We weren't close, but he was in the background.

"Peter Hale?" He chuckled. "That's rich." He moved forward. "He's a nothing for good, selfish bastard. You're lucky I saved you from him." He looked at Kira. "And you from the foster system." His gaze turned to Lydia.

She froze, the gun paused behind her back.

"You would still be with your druggie mother if I hadn't scraped you from the streets."

Her jaw hardened.

He surveyed her carefully, his gaze nearing suspicion as it lowered to her back.

A bead of sweat trickled down her face.

"Henry loves me," I rushed out. "I didn't need you for that."

He gave a dark laugh. "You were practically begging me to take you in."

"It's not okay," A tear filled manly voice said. "It's not okay for you to die."

My eyes scanned the woods for anyone else but came up short.

"Look at me," The voice said again.

At this point, I was aware I was the only one that could hear it.

"I'd die before I go back with you," Kira announced bravely.

"I love you, Scott McCall. I'm in love with you. I guess I was brave enough to say it to your face after all." A voice similar to mine said, only there was more bass. Like I was older.

My head shook in confusion as I tried to shake it from my mind.

"Trust me, that can be arranged." His face turned wicked as he charged us.

Lydia's hand flew from behind her back and shot him with a shaky hand.

He looked worried at the sight of it. "No, no. Not that gun," He warned, but it was too late. He stopped in his tracks with widened eyes, his hand went to the wound in his chest.

Purplish blue smoke came from the gun.

My eyes glowed. "Wolfsbane."

Lydia raised the gun again and shot him in the shoulder, a tear slid down her face in doing so. She handed the gun to me.

I aimed one at his kneecap.

He stumbled to the ground in pain. "Stop."

Kira took the gun from me and walked a few feet forward to aim it.

He raised his arm protectively while he held himself together on the rocks. "Kira, please. Don't do this."

"Do you know how many times I begged you to stop raping me before I accepted that it wouldn't do any good?" She put a bullet in his neck. She crouched down in front of him.

His hands grasped at his bleeding neck as he gasped for air.

"Do you know how many times I wished I were dead?" She screamed. She pointed the gun at his pants and shot him in the junk.

He howled in pain, his blood filled gurgled cries didn't last long enough because I rushed forward with a medium sized rock to repeatedly smash into his head. It wasn't enough when his head cracked open or when his brain turned to mush under my blows.

With a distant air we all looked up at the prospect of another pack, but it was just an omega.

Lydia and Kira pulled me to my feet. We stood under the full moon, feeling liberated and hopeful for the first time in ages.

Kira grabbed the knife from his hip holster and held it up. "Two years ago none of us knew each other. We never would've known each other if it hadn't been for Deucalion. That was the only good thing to come out of this." She looked hesitant. "I understand if you guys don't ever want to see me again, just forget that any of this happened to us, but I liked to think we could still be a pack."

Lydia shook her head. "No," She stepped forward. "We're not pack, not anymore."

I stared at her in fear. I couldn't lose them.

She wiped her watery eyes and said, "We're family."

I cleared my throat. "We're sisters."

We looked at each other as we stood in a circle.

Kira took the blade across her hand, then handed it to Lydia. "Let's make it official."

Lydia looked afraid of the blade, she didn't have the same healing properties we had. However, she slid it against her skin, then gave it to me.

There was no hesitation on my end, I knew I wanted this. If this was what it took for our bond to become even more real the I'd do it.

The knife cut deep enough to draw my blood. I pocketed the knife.

We pressed our hands together in union.

"I promise to protect you guys with my life," Kira said.

"I promise to be there for you guys all the time," Lydia promised.

I nodded. "And I promise to love you guys until the end of time."

We sniffled.

Kira's hand started to shock us, which wasn't out of the norm because she couldn't control her powers yet. The little lightning that danced from her skin tickled up mine and Lydia's hand. Kira looked just as shocked as we did.

"What are you doing?" Lydia asked.

"I don't know." She defended. "It's like binding our hands."

We pulled apart with great resistance until the bind broke.

She looked guilty. "Sorry."

"It's okay," I assured with a side hug.

Lydia pointed out the obvious. "What are we going to do with his body?"

The water wasn't deep enough and he wasn't heavy enough to stay down if it was.

"We bury him," I decided.

"With what shovels?" Kira asked.

I grabbed Deucalion's leg and pulled his dead weight along. "With our bare hands. That's all we have right now."

So that's what we did. We found a more secluded location that looked semi-untouched by man and dug into the Earth.

"This is gross," Lydia complained. "I keep touching bugs."

Kira snorted.

"The sooner we get this over with the sooner we can leave this behind," I spoke.

There was silence among us the rest of the process. Other than the ironically blissful sounds of nature in the background there was nothing else to distract us.

When we patted all the fresh soil down that we took up I went to get a branch from a tree and a few rocks to cover the area.

"We did the right thing, right?" Lydia asked.

We looked at her.

"Of course." Kira grimaced. "He deserved much worse. Fatherly figure my ass."

We washed off our hands in the stream.

"Now what?" Kira asked.

"I don't have any place for us to go," Lydia said. She looked at me. "Can we go to your dad's?"

Kira seemed apprehensive. "Another man? How do we know we can trust him?"

"He's a good man, he's my father," I assured her. "He won't hurt you. He'll be thrilled we're there."

"Oh yeah, your mom and sister died a while back didn't they? So he's like really lonely right?" Lydia asked.

I turned my heavy gaze to her.

She gave a sheepish look. "Sorry."

I waved it off. "If we're going to go we need to go now before someone spots us."

We rose and headed off hand in hand.

Those devilishly blue eyes stared into mine.

"How?" Was all I said.

A smirk fell on his face. "The truth is I did die that night and each of you took a piece of my power." He rose from his seat. "It took time for me to come back and regain my strength, but I had help. It's amazing what a few herbs and berries can do, isn't it?"

My wrists strained against the tight material. My guess was that it was made with some other substance that could hold a supernatural being.

"What's with the minor sex slave? Didn't get enough the first hundred times?" I said.

A hand slapped me across my face hard. It belonged to the guard. He stood in view. "Watch your tongue, girl."

I cut my eye at him and spat out blood.

"Easy," Deucalion instructed him. "Malia came here for a reason. I'm assuming it's not to return Kylie to me or join my side?"

The fiery burning hate that I kept at bay earlier surfaced at the mention of her. Her slack body and cut open wrists filled my mind. "Let me go and we can talk about it."

"That's not going to happen."

My brow lifted. "Are you that afraid of me, Deuc?"

He nodded for the girl to leave, then his fell on me. "You must think I was born yesterday?"

My jaw clenched. "Fine," My leg kicked out to push the guard's knee out of place.

He hollered in pain as he lowered to the cement floor.

I flipped in the air to dodge his gun shots. When I landed behind him my thighs wrapped around his head while I laid on the floor.

He struggled, tried to twist his head to bite me, his hands beat into my flesh.

My legs were too strong for his resistance and inevitably he moved the wrong way and I had enough leverage to twist his head to the side with a sickening crunch of bone.

He fell slack.

My eyes burned into Deucalion's. "Let me go." My eyes glowed killer blue.

He surveyed the body of his guard, unimpressed. "Why would I do that?"

"Because if you cut these off I'll won't make you suffer. As much."

He grinned. "You have a sense of humor now, I like that." He pointed at me, then sat on the edge of his desk.

Looking at him now, he didn't seem so big and scary as he once appeared.

"You've got to be one sick son of a bitch to keep pulling the same old stunt." I walked around his office. "What kind of person gets off on molestation and rape? Is that what it really takes to get your little guy going?"

He smirked. "You and I know it's far from little."

My teeth clenched.

"How is Kylie by the way? Does she miss me?" He gave a knowing grin.

My hands struggled against the cuffs this time and they gave way with great effort. My eyes glared, my nostrils flared, my hands itched to end his life for every bad thing he ever did.

"She killed herself." The cuffs fell to the floor with a clank.

His smugness fell as did his gaze on the restraints. "What?"

"You got her pregnant, you pedophile!" I stalked forward with a swift punch to his face

He fell back but quickly recovered with a hook to my jaw. His leg kicked me in the stomach.

I stumbled back, but rushed forward with a cross jab, then stomped on his foot.

He groaned.

There were guards trying to get the door open.

He shot up and roundhouse kicked me back with a grimace.

"You can't kill me a second time, Malia. I'm smarter now."

The dead guard's assault rifle caught my attention so I snagged it.

The door flew open.

I turned around and shot everyone that came into view. Their bodies piled up in the entryway. I turned the gun back on him. "She killed herself because of you! Because of what you did to her!" I screamed. "Do you even feel the tiniest bit guilty?"

He raised his hands. "I loved her as you did."

Rage tore into me. I threw the gun down and ran for him with vengeful tears hot in my eyes. "You didn't love her." My fists flew into him so fast he couldn't keep up. "You didn't love any of us." My tears fell heavy and I couldn't stop them this time.

He punched me back so hard I fell onto the pile of dead bodies. He stalked my way and crouched down over me.

My knee flew up to hit him in the dick.

He titled to the side in agony.

More men stomped their way to us.

I pulled him back and shut the door.

My fists wrecked into his face with satisfying blows as bullets dented the heavy door. This was for the younger Kira, Lydia, and I. For us now. For Kylie. And that poor girl out there that was so brainwashed she couldn't even be afraid of her surroundings or situation.

"I don't want to kill you," He muttered through the blood.

"You won't," I promised. I raised my fist high for a final blow.

Fear rang in his eyes for the first time since I stepped into his office. "I can bring her back." He rushed out.

My fist paused mid-air. "What?" I demanded. "What did you say?" I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

"Kylie," He coughed. "I can bring her back. I did it once before, I can do it again."

My head shook. "You're lying!"

"If I am would you really risk it?" He challenged. "You know I can."

The thought hadn't even crossed my mind. "Why would you do that for me?"

The door flew open. The men dashed in with their weapons raised and ready to shoot.

Deucalion raised a hand for them to hold off. He motioned for me to get off him. "May I?"

I stood abruptly.

They pointed their guns at me, ready for a fight.

Deucalion rose, a smug look on his face now that he held the power once more. "Let's strike a deal, huh?"

Unease filled me. There had to be a catch naturally.

"What do you want?" I scowled.

He went to sit on his desk again, his eyes ran over me. "You."

My head shook. "Not going to happen. I'm not having sex with you."

He gave a cold laugh. "No my dear, that's not what I meant. Besides, you're far too old for me now."

My stomach felt queasy at his words.

"Then what do you want with me?"

"What I always wanted," Hair grew from his face and his face shifted into a grayish monstrosity. His eyes glowed devilish red. "More power." His demonic voice set the hairs up on my arm. "You have a choice, Malia." His voice grated like nails on my skin. "Try and kill me and get blown to pieces." He stepped forward. "Or join me and save your sister."

What choice did I really have? One move and they'd gun me down like any Black man with a hood on. If I did this, if I joined Deucalion's twisted little army then he'd bring Kylie back and that was the only silver lining in this whole mess.

"How do I know that you really brought her back?"

He stepped forward. "You'll get confirmation." He handed me a phone from his pocket. "Now let your friends know not to bury her or put her on ice."

He was giving me a phone? He must be pretty confident that I wouldn't call for help. Even if I did they'd never get here in time. It was at least an hour and a half out. They'd be long gone by then.

I couldn't bare to hear anyone's voice right now so I sent a text to Peter.

Deucalion knows how to bring Kylie back. Prepare her for it. Don't come looking for me. I made a deal. - Malia

I handed it back to him.

He broke the phone in half. "Let's move out." He instructed.

One of the guards grabbed me up.

I elbowed him in the face.

"Let her be, she's with us now." Deucalion shifted back to his usual creepy self.

The guard held his broken nose and walked on.

"How long is it going to take before she's alive?"

We headed down the hall for the elevator.

"Until we get to the new warehouse. I've had to keep them on stock considering your Scooby Doo gang keeps finding us."

My head shook. "No, not good enough." I stopped with my arms crossed. "Now, you need to do it now or I'm not going anywhere with you."

He sized me up with amused eyes. "Alright," He looked at one his men. "Phone."

They handed him a phone.

He dialed a number and held it to his ear. "I need you now." He stared at me. "Great." He hung up. "She'll be here in twenty."

"Who?"

"The person that's going to bring your sister back to life. With Kylie not being present I can't exactly inject her with the serum. Braeden is versed in dark arts. She needs to be present either way." He looked at his men. "Get everything packed up. We're moving as soon as the ritual is done."

They scurried as ordered.

My mind tried to fill in the blanks. "She's the one that helped you come back to life?"

"Yes and no." He turned from me to answer a question.

This was not what I had in mind on the way over here. The fact that I refrained from ripping his face off now was commendable. Coming here, I was thinking of myself and what I wanted to do to him. Now I had to think of Kylie. That was the only reason I was doing this. Maybe I could get him to agree to leave my friends alone, to leave Scott alone.

I stilled at the memory of my younger self hearing a conversation from Scott and me in that other life. That's why the name sounded so familiar that first day of class. Because I had heard it before.

The minutes ticked by until the girl showed up with a guard escorting her.

I was instantly struck by her beauty. Her mocha skin looked smooth and inviting. Her long, curled hair bounced as she walked. The black leather jacket she wore with dark jeans and combat boots went against the gypsy image I had of her in my head. She held a duffel bag in her hand.

"Thanks for coming," Deucalion told her.

"You called, I came." She shed her jacket with a lacy burgundy cami. She pinned her hair back into a bun, a few tendrils fell from it that framed her face. "Who's the girl?" She glanced at me before rifling through her bag on the floor.

"Malia Tate."

She stilled. She looked up at me, then at Deucalion. "Does that mean?"

He shook his head. "You need to bring Kylie back to life. Her bodies not here so you have to do it old school."

Her head tilted back in remorse. "She was a good kid."

I planted myself firm so I wouldn't sucker punch her for being okay with this setup. Was she brainwashed too?

"I'll need something of hers to do the ritual." She looked at me in assessment. She made a noise of inquiry.

My arms crossed my chest. "Can I help you?" My attitude not lost on her.

She gave a half-grin, then bit her lip. "Not tonight."

Soon she had all her candles and herbs laid out. She drew a pentacle with white chalk, lit the candles on fire, then entered the center of it. Foreign words fell from her lips as the flames grew around her. The flames highlighted her bronzed skin.

The shirt of Kylie's he had on hand floated in the air moments later as a crumbled pile.

Suddenly her hand shot out and the guard with the broken nose fell to his knees lifelessly. The other guard present didn't flinch. He just stood there.

The shirt opened until it was as if someone filled it out.

I looked at Deucalion for an answer.

He held a hand up in patience.

As Braeden threw her head back the flames almost reached the ceiling. They pointed in different directions so suddenly that I had to jump out the way of one before it fried me. Now I knew why the others kept their distance.

All I could do was watch in fascination and bewilderment.

Moments later the flames died down and she stopped chanting.

Her eyes found Deucalion's. "It's done."

He looked at me. "Can we go now?"

I went to him. "I don't know if she's alive yet." I looked to Braeden. "How long does the process take?"

She caught her breath and stood. "Usually a few hours."

I huffed.

"We don't have a few hours," He pointed out. "We made a deal, I held up my end. In a few hours, you'll get your confirmation as promised."

Trusting his word meant trusting him and that was the last thing I'd ever do again. But there was nothing I could do until I got that confirmation. We couldn't stay here.

"Lead the way." He gestured ahead of himself.

I gave a sardonic grin but walked toward the elevator with the others in tow.

SCOTT'S POV:

"Scott, how could let that happen?" Peter demanded once we got back to the house.

"I didn't let anything happen. She did it on her own."

Kira sighed. "We can sit here and blame Scott all we want, but it's not going to change the fact that she went after Deucalion all by herself. Either she's dead or he has her locked up."

Peter's phone went off. "I don't know about that."

"Huh?" Lydia asked.

He looked up and handed her the phone.

She stilled, then handed it to Kira.

What was on that phone?

Kira's lightning crackled in the sky. She shoved the phone to my chest, then stormed outside.

Lydia went after her.

I looked down at the screen and read the text from a foreign number.

Deucalion knows how to bring Kylie back. Prepare her for it. Don't come looking for me. I made a deal. - Malia

So she was alive. But she was with Deucalion now, was that it? That had to be it. If his reputation preceded him he wouldn't just bring Kylie back out of the kindness of her heart.

I handed the phone back to Peter. "You didn't bury her did you?"

He shook his head. "I couldn't."

I nodded. "Where should we take her?"

"Back to school." He started for the stairs. "The others got the apartment I bought for her ready. She can stay there with them in the meantime."

"What about Henry?"

Doesn't he deserve time with his daughter?

He looked at me with eyes unlike the ones I imagined so many times. "I don't think Henry can take that mentally. I'm going to take him to an associate who can help him process better than we can."

This was the plan. We didn't have to like it, but it was our only option at the moment. Deucalion had swept our feet from under us in so many ways. How much longer could this go on?

I wasn't a hundred percent, but I drove Lydia's car because I didn't think either of them was in any mental state to. If I focused on the road I didn't have to focus on Malia. Or the dead body in the trunk.

Explaining everything to the others was harder than I thought. We gathered at my apartment and after a week away it felt foreign somehow. I guess I got used to an actual home with loving parents and home cooked meals, decorated rooms, and family dinners.

Getting Kylie out of the trunk was the fun part. Lydia and Kira carried her up so if anyone asked she was really drunk and hopefully they wouldn't smell her decomposing body.

"I can't believe this is happening." Stiles ran his hands over his face.

Allison shook her head. "You should've stopped her." She paced until Stiles went to her and she fell into his chest.

"How?" I looked around the room at all of them. "How was I going to make her listen to me when it was her sister's life on the line?" My teeth grit together. "She would've done it for any of us."

Lydia stepped forward. "You did everything you could." Her hand rubbed my back.

We waited and waited with no change.

"How long can we keep her here before the humans notice the stench?" Liam asked.

"A few more hours," Peter answered as he walked through the door.

Allison and Stiles stilled.

"How's Henry?" I asked him to let them know for the time being this was okay.

He shut the door and met us. "As well as to be expected. I'm worried one more traumatic event will snap his mind."

My head nodded.

"We're going to figure this out, Scott." He said.

At the beginning of the semester if anyone had told me that Peter Hale and I would be in the same room agreeing on something, let alone talking I would've laughed. At the beginning of the semester, I would've killed him on sight. But things changed, I changed. Because of Malia.

Kylie gasped awake with wide green eyes. Confusion swept over her at the sight of us. Her gaze fell between Peter and me, then went to herself. "I don't...I don't understand."

I helped her up. "Let's get you settled, then we'll answer your questions."

She shook her head. "No, tell me now." She looked around for the one person that wasn't here. "Where's Lizzie?"

I didn't know how to tell her the news, so I just ripped the band-aid off.

She walked around in search of her.

"Kyle," My hands went to her shoulders to stop her. "Malia's not here. She did something to bring you back."

"Where is she?" Worry filled her eyes.

I had a feeling she already knew my answer before I spoke. "She went to kill Deucalion to avenge you and he manipulated her into joining him if he brought you back."

Her head shook. "No," She started to cry. "It can not be."

"I'm sorry."

She looked to Peter. "We have to get her back."

"And we will," He assured. "As soon as we can track them."

If Malia did it, surely we could do it too. They'd be smarter about it now, more on the defense. But I wasn't going to let her get away that easily. Especially not when she whispered those words to me when I kept fighting consciousness earlier

A/N: I hate to keep begging for reviews but I'd really appreciate it if more of yall left them. If you have suggestions leave them, concerns or questions. Do you like where it's headed? If not let me know.


	13. A Monster Like Me

The song for this fic is Mørland & Debrah Scarlett - A Monster Like Me (This is more for Theo's pov and Thiam in general)

MALIA'S POV:

It had been several minutes since Deucalion had received the text from his source that Kylie was alive. My eyes were glued to the screen ever since he'd given it to me.

This was evidence that I got what I wanted. I could still follow through with my original plan to kill him, but would it be feasible at this point?

I'd make it feasible. There was no way that I was going to stay here with these deluded people.

"Home sweet home," He said from the front seat.

I looked out the window at another warehouse. "Isn't there something a little cozier?"

"We won't be here long. Your friends will be looking for you no doubt." He got out.

They would be. I couldn't help but feel bad about Scott. I'd like to think he'd forgive me but if the situation were reversed I don't think I'd be as open. I'd be madder that he wouldn't let me help him than anything.

Deucalion opened the door for me. "You coming?"

Did I have a choice? I didn't know where we were, I was surrounded by armed men at every turn, and whatever the hell Deucalion turned into earlier was a major upgrade. I didn't know his capabilities yet. Theo had said he experimented on him, so maybe he also experimented on himself.

I got out the SUV with a huff. "Where are we?"

He gave a light laugh. "Like I'd tell you that."

I looked off to the side. "What are we doing here?"

"There's business I need to take care of, make sure my men are loyal."

I nodded. Whatever that meant.

He grabbed a guard. "Get her a room set up. Make sure she's taken care of. Don't touch here." He instructed then he was off in another direction.

My room consisted of a cell like a corridor. A pinching sting hit my arm. I looked down to see I'd been vaccinated. "Hey," I turned around as the lock clicked on the door.

Their chuckle bounced of the halls.

"Let me out of here!"

They headed down the hall without a look back.

My hands banged on the door with no give. "Hey!"

They moved about on other levels doing their meek tasks as ordered by Deucalion.

A wave of lightheadedness fell over me. I backed onto the cot-like bed in the corner. My hand ran through my hair. Flashes of my preteen years took over my mind. Tears hit my eyes as I shook my head. "No,"

He said he didn't want sex from me, that I was too old for him. He promised.

That didn't stop the fear that naturally filled me up. I hadn't been afraid of a man in years, not since that night we killed him, and I wasn't afraid of him now, but my trauma had followed me. It was something I never really dealt with but suppressed. That was how it was with all of us.

Screams of protest of our younger selves filled my head and my eyes went from different corners of the room for a threat. Chills took over my body. I laid down on the cot to gather myself, but it didn't make me feel better. I felt wired yet sleepy and no part of me wanted to fall asleep in this foreign place. But something called me under.

SCOTT'S POV:

Allison knocked on my bedroom door. "Hey,"

I pulled my shirt down and turned around. "Hey,"

We stared at each other.

She cleared her throat. "Look, I know that we haven't exactly been close lately and that's completely my fault," She pushed her glasses back onto the bridge of her nose.

I didn't say anything, I just let her say her piece.

"I wanted to give you the time you needed," She hugged. "And the time I needed." She took a few steps closer. "I never thought of us that way and the fact that you did and I didn't know about it scared me. You were always like a brother to me. I've always wanted to see you happy with someone. Just not me."

Frankly, I hadn't thought of Allison like that in a while, she wasn't the one that I saw a future with.

Her hands twisted nervously. "I like the idea of you and Malia so much. She's kinda the perfect fit for you in so many ways that no one else is. And knowing what I know about her past I know that you're the perfect person for her, not just the perfect guy."

Under different circumstances, I would've smiled at that. Today not so much. Other than Kylie being alive I didn't have much to smile about.

I tried to smile but it turned wry.

"Thank you for saying all that. " I sat on the end of my bed.

She followed. "You're worried about her."

"Of course I'm worried about her, Allie."

Her eyes fanned across my face. "You're in love with her," She brightened up. When I didn't deny it she beamed. Her hand smacked my shoulder repeatedly. "Oh my God,"

My hand went to my shoulder. "Ow."

"That's all you have to say? You're in love with Malia, does she know?"

I sighed. "I think so," I rose in frustration. "But it doesn't really matter if we don't get her back."

"When we get her back." She stood.

"When we get her back," I started. "I don't think she'll be in a place to be with anybody."

She shrugged. "So wait. You waited for me so wait for her. She actually puts up with your crap," She gave a teasing grin.

"Yeah, she does." My tone solemn. I looked her in the eyes. "I don't want to lose her. I've lost so many people, I couldn't hold off the emotions any longer. "I can't lose her." My head hung while my eyes burned, a single tear slid down my face. I moved to wipe it away.

"You won't." She rushed to hug me. "We'll get her back." Her voice filled with promise but we both knew it was empty until it was fulfilled.

We were interrupted by Kira clearing her throat.

Allison pulled away and said, "I'll go check on Kylie."

Kira stared around my room.

"How much of that did you hear?"

She stepped inside. "Like all of it. I'm nosy."

I gave a small laugh. "Uh, thank you for earlier." I stepped toward her.

She nodded. "Don't mention it."

"Well, I am. I know that you don't like me, Kira. I get why, trust me I get it. If I were you I wouldn't want anyone like me near Malia either. Or any of you. But I'm promising you now when we get her back I won't ever hurt her like he did."

"Because you love her," She deduced.

"Yes. If I ever do anything bad to her I'm giving you my permission to snip it off,"

She snorted a laugh. "No permission necessary, I'll do it anyway."

Nice to know she had my back. Sort of.

"I know it took a lot for you to stand up for me with Peter. So thank you for that. You didn't have to do it."

She nodded. "Yes, I did. You would've done the same for me."

It felt like the air was finally cleared between us so I wondered if that was the reason she came in here or if she had something else to say.

She scratched at her her head then looked off to the side. "Uhh, I know this may sound weird but and I don't know what it means, but I've been getting feelings for you lately."

My eyes widened.

"Like I know you from somewhere," She rushed to clarify. "I'm super gay."

Never thought I'd laugh because of something Kira said to me, I did laugh.

"I'm aware." I lowered my voice. "Also about what you feel for Malia."

Her face fell, she lowered her head. "That's dead."

"You're feelings for her aren't."

She shrugged. "Scott, I literally have no chance with her. Especially not with you in the picture."

I nodded. "I kind of figured that was another reason you didn't like me."

She sighed. "I've never seen her that crazy about someone before. You're literally the only person she'll share food with. I don't think you get how big of a deal that it. We've gotten into arguments and have stopped talking dozens of times over us just reaching for a chip."

I recalled the few times that I've witnessed it. I hadn't thought it that big of a deal but I knew that it meant she cared about me in a certain way she didn't others. I sort of figured it was automatic from our other lives.

"The two of together are odd. It's like you've experienced things beyond us, but I don't know what that means."

Now would've been a good time to tell her and others about this other world, what little we knew about it, but I wanted to wait for Malia to be by my side when the time came.

Now that I had a step back from the situation I wasn't so sure I heard Malia say those words. Maybe I had been knocked out already or maybe it was wishful thinking. I knew who Malia was and what she'd been through. Those words wouldn't come easily to her and I wasn't sure she was sure about how she felt after Kylie. Or that she even felt anything.

MALIA'S POV:

The sound of gunshots woke me up.

My heart was pounding, my eyes were sensitive. I sat up with a groan. My body ached.

What was going on outside?

I went to the door and looked out the bars. "Hello?"

The sound of footsteps headed down the hall until someone came into view.

"Theo?" I gave a sigh of relief.

He opened the door.

"How'd you find us?"

He looked down the hall.

"Scott's with you?" A bead of fear started in me. He shouldn't be here.

"No, he's not." Deucalion came into view once I stepped out of the room.

My eyes went to Theo's in understanding. "Scott was right about you. Allison was right. You were spying on us this whole time."

His gaze went to the side.

My head shook. "Liam, you're playing Liam."

He didn't say anything.

I backed into the room. "Screw you, dude."

Deucalion brought an arm around his shoulder. "Theo here is my best project." He grinned proudly.

"You realize how crazy you sound right? Theo's a person, not a science project." I defended. "You can't just inject..." I trailed off when I remembered one of his men stuck me with something earlier.

"Theo doesn't have any objections." He turned his smug grin on him. "Do you?"

He shook his head. "No, sir."

My head shook. I prayed that Deucalion hadn't touched Theo or taped him like did us. That would be so sad.

My head swam. "What did you give me?"

"Let's go for a walk." He suggested.

"What am I doing here, Deucalion? What do you want me to do?" I got to the point.

"Walk with us and find out."

It was either sit here and brainstorm horrible things or go with him and get answers. So I stood and walked past them.

We ended up going down some stairs that I didn't think a warehouse this size had because like the others it was only two or three levels. The more we went down I realized that these were leading underground.

My unease since being here hadn't left, but it definitely rose now.

The hall ended with an open entrance. The stench down here made my eyes water. Hearts thumped from the room.

What would I find in there?

"Go on," Deucalion urged.

What I saw when I got in there ran ice through my veins.

A dozen people were chained to the dingy tiled walls. Some of them had scaled skin, some had fangs much too elongated to be a werewolf. Some had long talons from their hands.

"What are they doing here?" I went to pull on the nearest person's chains with no luck.

"I made them."

My eyes surveyed them again. "What do you mean made them?"

"Like he made me," Theo said.

I looked at him, but he wouldn't meet my gaze. So I turned to Deucalion.

"I didn't give Theo the Bite. I injected him with the same stuff I injected these people with."

I didn't understand. I stumbled toward the middle of the room, I took in all of their frightened emotions. They didn't want this.

"Did they even ask for this?" I demanded.

His cold gray eyes didn't look phased. "They're just people off the street, Malia. I'm giving them a purpose like I gave Theo a purpose."

"To what?" My voice raised. "To kill for you? Is that all you want?"

He stepped forward. "When they're transition is complete they'll fight and die for me."

This went back to the three of us long ago. He wanted us to be his lapdogs, not his pack.

I tried to fish for more information. "How long does the process take?"

"For them, it's in stages. They weren't supernatural before. For you, all it takes is a little persistence." He produced a big ass metal needle contraption. "You'll thank me later." He headed my way.

I prepared to fight him off but I was too weak to do much of anything.

He sunk the thick needle into my neck and drained the silver fluid into my bloodstream.

I guess it was only fitting.

This time I didn't feel sleepy, I felt awake.

My senses tingled and I didn't know what to make of it. I turned around to inspect the others.

His big hands wrapped around my head before I could process and cracked my neck.

LIAM'S POV:

My attention kept losing track at practice. Theo wasn't here. He wasn't answering his phone.

Coach yelled at me to get my head in the game on more than one occasion.

During break, Jackson elbowed me. "What's up with you today?"

I glanced around to see if Theo had come in late. "Nothing."

Jackson took a drink of his water. "Oh, I see."

My eyes went to him. "Huh?"

He cracked a grin. "It's about the new AC. I thought I saw sparks at my party the other night."

"Shh," I closed the distance between us. "Nothing's going on between us. He could get fired."

Despite how he treated me lately I didn't want to jeopardize his chance at this new life he wanted to build. I just wish there was room for me in it.

"Relax," He waved it off. "No one the team's going to narc, it's not like we didn't know you were into dicks, not chicks. Your crush on McCall was hilarious. With Raeken I think it's cute," He teased.

I took a swig of my Body Armor coconut water. My eyes rolled.

"He watches you more than the rest of us. I guess now I know why."

I checked around for prying ears.

"I'll tell you what, I'll keep it quiet if you come out with us tonight."

My brow arched. "Where are going?"

"To a club downtown."

I made a face. "You do know I'm not twenty-one right?"

He waved it off. "We'll get you in. I know a bartender that likes blue eyes twinks." He ruffled my hair.

My hands shoved his off. "I'm not a twink." I wasn't really mad.

"Compared to this guy you will be. I'll come by to get you around nine."

Frankly, I had nothing better to do. There was nothing I could do for Kylie that Scott and Peter couldn't do better. I didn't know how to fight so I couldn't help with Allison's training. When I thought about it I didn't really know what I brought to the pack.

After my shower, I got ready for lunch with parents.

Mason pushed off his running shoes and flopped back on his bed out of breath with a light sheen of sweat on his dark skin. He smelled terrible, apart from the musk of exercise.

"What's wrong with you?" I put my head and arms through my shirt.

He was too exhausted to speak. He got out his phone, pulled up something, and handed it to me.

 _The Daily Progress_ headline read 'KKK rally in Charlottesville eclipsed by protest'.

My heart sank. A wave of guilt hit me. Not because of the part my ancestors played into slavery and Jim Crow, but because I could go about my life and not have to worry about things like this. I could block it out if I so chose. People like Scott, Kira, and Mason didn't have that luxury. It was easy to say America had come a long way, maybe it did in some areas, but not this.

I handed the phone back to him. "You know you can talk to me about this stuff if you need to."

He sat up. "No disrespect Liam, but I don't think you could understand."

My brow arched. "Because I don't know what it's like to targeted and glared at being gay and all."

"That's not the same thing."

I didn't mean to come across as ignorant, but I didn't see a difference. "How?"

He took a moment to gather his thoughts and said, "The difference is that America welcomed Caitlyn Jenner with open arms, which was great, but they don't do the same for Black people, people of color in general. The difference is no one's bringing SWAT teams to protect bigots at gay rights rallies. The difference is Black people can't gather without people getting nervous. Not all cops are bad, I get that, but they're not looking out for my people."

"Isn't that a little presumptuous? I mean, there can't be that many Racists still left."

His forehead creased. "The police used to be called the Runaway Slave Patrol, so no I don't think it's presumptuous."

"I didn't know that," I said.

He nodded. "There's a lot this country doesn't teach us that you have to learn for yourself." He went through his phone. "Watch this."

I went to sit beside him to watch the video.

It was a few seconds of jumbled dialogue until a White guy with sunglasses came into the picture, the Confederate flag in the background. "This is my country, you fucking Nigger." He pointed at himself. "This is my country...Your fucking country is Africa!" He pointed to the ground like it was an accurate representation of the continent.

The brave woman that wasn't in the frame tried to kill his hate with calm protests.

He pointed his accusatory finger at her. "You were born in Africa. Fuck you, Nigger! Fuck you! Fuck you!" He leaned a little closer. "Nigger! Nigger! Nigger!" Venom dripped from his voice. He had so much proud, so much belief that he was right.

The caption read that it was in New Orleans. These things happened all over, but they were so strong in the south.

"Things like this happen every day, Liam. It's up to you if you want to wake up to it or not."

I nodded. "Didn't you say your family doesn't celebrate the Fourth of July?"

He gave an eye roll, but it wasn't at me. "No, we don't."

"Tell me about it." I offered.

He gestured to me. "What does July Fourth mean to you?"

A sense of bravery and leadership hit me. "Independence for our country. Celebrating our freedom." I gave a tiny grin.

His brown eyes saddened. "Black people weren't free until 1865, almost a hundred years after the Declaration of Independence was signed." His head shook. "We weren't seen as Men yet, we weren't free. For a hundred more years America didn't want to give us basic civil rights. And today Black men and women are incarcerated more than anyone, thanks to the 13th Amendment and all. They haven't stopped shooting us and they won't. Why would I want to celebrate a country that has never accepted me or fought for my freedoms? As much as we'd like to think so not everyone is created equal. But people get angry when we don't want to celebrate that history for a sake of Patriotism. If people want to praise the Veteran's there's Veteran's Day for that."

I took all of that in from his perspective and he was right. Did my dad have to go through all of that?

Mason rose from the bed. "I'm not saying you should be wearing a Dashiki or hold your fist up in the air, just be more mindful of other ethnicities."

"Don't you mean races?"

"We're all one race, Liam. The human race. The sooner we acknowledge that the better. It's time for people to wake up." He reached a hand out for a fist bump.

I stood up to hug him instead.

He stood still for a few seconds, then hugged me back.

"I'm going to dinner with my parents if you want to join us?" I asked.

We pulled away.

"Wish I could cuz your dad seems awesome, but I've got a study group." He grabbed some clothes from his closet.

My eyes narrowed in amusement. "You mean you have a date with that guy from your Lab?"

He grinned. "No, other people will be there. Here's hoping they don't show."

I laughed. "Maybe one of us will get lucky tonight."

His grin fell. "How was practice today? I still can't believe he's your Coach now."

"Assistant Coach and it went shitty. He wasn't there so I was beyond distracted. I don't know where he is."

"He hasn't texted you?"

My head shook. "Silent treatment. He read it which was the worst part. Fuck read receipts."

He chuckled. "Do you want me to track him?"

"You can do that from your phone?"

"Yeah," He nodded.

I thought about it but decided against it.

"That's kind of stalkerish."

He shrugged. "Totally, but I still think there's something off about him.

My eyes rolled. "Mason, there's nothing wrong with Theo. He's a good guy."

"Doesn't mean he can't be hiding something. He was talking on the phone to someone about you and it didn't sound good, what more do you need to be convinced to stay away?"

Theo wasn't that person. He couldn't be.

I shook my head. "You're wrong about him."

"I hope so. Tell your parents I said hi." He said, then headed for the bathroom.

I met them at a locally praised restaurant near downtown. I could spot my dad's Black bald head a mile away, something I used to tease him about, but now I didn't think it was okay to say.

They turned to greet me with excited smiles.

My mom rushed to hug me, she swooped me up into a bear hug with the strength of a thousand weightlifters, the kind of strength you only earned from working your fingers to the bone. She was a great single mother growing up, did her best to put food on our table and make sure the rent was paid. She wasn't ever happy though. That's where Todd came in. Handsome, fancy Doctor that swept her off her feet.

"Mom, I can't breath,"

"I don't care."

"Regina," My dad laughed. "Stop killing the boy."

"Stay out of this, Todd." She advised but eventually loosened her hold, then peppered me with kisses all over my face.

My face turned red. "Mom," I chastised, but I let her do it because I missed the crap out of her.

Todd moved in for his hug. "Good to see you, son."

I couldn't help but look at him with more respect after my talk with Mason. "I missed you both."

My mom looked around, then back at me with a question in her eyes. "Where's Theo? Is he on the way? I brought him some stuff that's in the car."

"Uh, he's not coming today ma. He's out of town." I decided to keep it as close to the truth as possible. I didn't know where he was. He was either in a really bad area or he was ignoring me.

Her excitement decreased a bit. "Oh, well next time." She glanced at Todd, then back at me. "You'll pass them along for me?"

I nodded. "Sure."

We headed inside.

At the table, we all looked over the menu, but the air was oddly tense.

I peeked over my menu at them. They were hiding something from me.

My mom caught me staring and she gave a stiff smile before taking a sip of water.

I put the menu down and grabbed a roll from the basket. "So what's life been like since I moved out?"

"Good," Todd answered. "It's kind of quiet without you in the house, but we manage."

I looked at mom.

She smiled. "I took up knitting. I started on a sweater for you, but it's not finished yet."

Todd met my eyes and gave a slight shake of his head, a seed of fear in his eyes.

"Aw, thanks," I said with a laugh.

She shot a look at him.

He laughed. "What? I'm just warning him,"

"You said you liked your boxers."

"I also said I liked cacti, but that doesn't mean I want to wear them on my ass."

I looked between the two of them and grinned. This was how they were and I loved every minute of it. They had what I wanted to have. Whether if that was with Theo or somebody else was up to him.

For the remainder of the dinner, I put him aside to enjoy the time with my parents.

SCOTT'S POV:

Peter ordered us pizza when Kylie was in the shower. Allison went in there with her to make sure nothing went wrong.

Stiles huddled with Liam and me while Kira and Lydia talked to Peter.

"Are you not going to talk to him about it?" Stiles whisper demanded.

"There hasn't been a right time. We can't think about that right now." I looked to Liam. "Where's Theo?"

He shrugged and looked down.

What was going on there?

Stiles brought his hand to my shoulder. "Are we really going to trust this guy, Scott?"

I met his gaze. "Do we have a choice? It's Malia we're talking about."

He gave a small nod in agreement.

We rejoined them.

"You have contacts like everywhere," Kira pointed out to Peter. "Somebody had to have seen something. An army doesn't travel lightly."

Lydia nodded. "Especially if they're packing up each warehouse every time."

Stiles propped an elbow on Lydia's shoulder. "She's right. Maybe they're going different routes to ward off suspicion."

Lydia looked up at him. "They're not that smart."

"But Deucalion is." He looked at Peter. "Argent's been tracking weapons shipments, hoping to get some kind of lead or location."

"No offense to Argent, but it's not working," Kira muttered.

Liam chuckled.

We all looked at him.

He tried to cover it up with a cough.

Lydia cleared her throat. "It's probably not the right time to tell you guys, but I can't keep it quiet anymore."

We looked at her.

"I've been having weird visions lately. Well, they feel like memories really. Of some other life really. I thought it was just my mind adjusting to things but it feels like I've known you all before. Someplace else."

Stiles and I looked at each other, knowing full well what she was talking about.

Kira glanced at me, then looked at the floor.

Liam scratched at his neck.

"You guys have been experiencing it too?" Lydia questioned.

Stiles gestured to her. "Maybe there is something weird going on with us. We should wait until Malia gets back to talk about it." He suggested.

"Sounds like a good plan." I backed him up.

"Maybe we're all just on drugs." Liam propose

"Don't you have practice, Freshie?" Kira raised a brow at him.

He made a face at her. "Don't you have practice, Freshie?" He mocked her. He stilled. "Crap, I do." He started for the door.

Kira grinned at him with a shake of her head.

The others had drifted off here and there in the living room.

I knocked on the open door of the guest room.

Kylie looked over at me from the window sill. She offered a meek smile.

"Come I come in?"

She nodded.

I sat on the floor in the middle of the room. "How are you holding up?"

She shrugged. "I've been worse. I've been dead. Why couldn't I stay dead?"

"You don't mean that."

"If I thought I would stay dead I'd do it again, but I know my sister." She leaned her head against the window. She smelled of depression, her voice was desolate of faith that her life would get better.

"You know what your problem is?" I asked going for tough love because I thought that's what she needed now.

She turned her head to me.

"You're self-absorbed. Impressionable. Young and careless."

She scoffed. "Excuse me?" She sat up.

"You heard me." I didn't back down.

Her grass green eyes grew irritated. "I was held captive for years, raped for years, submissive for years. I went through Hell and I wasn't smart enough to know it or to run away."

"So you want to be a coward instead, is that it?" I pressed. "You want to let Deucalion win? Let him keep doing the same thing to little girls?"

She pointed to herself. "What am I supposed to do? I did nothing for five years."

My eyes stared into hers. "You fight."

Her body leaned forward. "How can I fight for someone else when I can't even fight for myself? I'm sick, I know that! There were other ways to get rid of the baby, but I couldn't have that thing in me." Anger filled tears hit her eyes. "Reminding me every day what I went through. It didn't deserve to live."

I shrugged. "I don't know if that's true or not. I haven't been through what you have so I don't know what I would do in the situation, but I do know that I wouldn't give up and leave behind people that care about me. Your dad, Peter, Malia. Me. We love you and want you to live."

"That's what you don't get, Scott. As much as I love all of you, you're not enough to make me want to live. I have to feel that on my own. And I don't," She gave a sad smile that turned into a quiet sob.

I went to her side and pulled her into a hug.

She cried into my chest, her arms clung to me like I could give her some of my hope. "I can't find a reason to live."

A sigh left me. "A few months back I lost my mom. She was killed. Deucalion's men killed her. She was my whole world. I could've given up, but I didn't."

She looked up at me with trembling lips. "How'd you get over it?"

"I didn't." My head shook. "I got angry, blamed everyone else. I blamed the man that turned me into this, if I hadn't been given the Bite then none of that would've happened. I was dead set on making him pay."

"Did you?"

The irony.

"No, not at all."

"What happened?"

A grin found my face. "I met your sister. She challenged me in a lot of ways. Eventually, I let go of my toward my dad, to the man who turned me, and toward myself. It wasn't easy, it felt like if I let go if it then I was letting go of my mom. But I still have her in my heart, she'll always be with me. It's her strength that keeps me going. My friends. Malia. I kept thinking if we could all get a happy ending then I could tough it out for right now. So far it's been worth it even the shitty parts. Something else that helped was getting a hobby." I pulled away. "I'll be back."

I sprinted toward my room to get my guitar. On the way to the guest room, I felt eyes on me.

Peter and I locked eyes. He gave me a questioning look before turning back to his book.

Kylie sat on the bed with curious eyes. She took in the guitar with wide eyes.

"Malia gave me this, to help me through things."

She reached for it.

I handed it over. "It meant a lot to her so it means a lot to me. Music. It's kind of our thing."

She turned it over and ran her hands over it with a faraway look in her eyes. "When did she give you this?"

"Like the second week we met." I guessed as I sat beside her.

She nodded. "She must've fallen for you hard." She gave an attempt at a smile.

My mind went to her confession and I prayed I got one face to face so that I knew it was real.

"I don't think it's like that yet." I tried to downplay it because of my insecurity.

Her eyes met mine. "No, I'm telling it is. I know that my sister has issues with letting people in, but she let in completely. Even if she didn't say it then she was in love with you."

I gave a half laugh half scoff. "How could you be so sure?"

She turned the guitar on its side and pointed to a carving that I noticed a few times. "KT. Kylie Tate." She held it like a younger Malia and played a few notes. "This was my guitar when I was younger. Dad bought it for me. She must've taken it up later on."

Her words weighed on me. I knew a few truths about Malia. Her love for her family, for Kylie specifically. That guitar was the last lifeline she had to her and she just gave it to me like it wasn't a big deal. It was a very big deal.

Kylie continued to play as her hands worked through muscle memory. There was a beautiful sadness to her chords. From the life that sprouted in Kylie's eyes, I could tell on some level it was working for her.

At the moment, this guitar was my only lifeline to Malia. I could tell Kylie needed it more than I did.

"It found its way back to you." I nudged her shoulder.

She looked at me with surprised eyes. "You're giving it to me?"

"It's yours," I grinned. "Besides, you're way better at that than I am."

I could go without the guitar for now. I could use the one I bought Malia until we got her back. If what Kylie said was true and I believed every word of it was, then I had something better to hold onto anyway.

The stupidly brave and caring, infuriating girl that I was no doubt in love with felt the same way. I remember feeling this in the other life and knowing that I was right in the back of my mind even when I didn't say I believed it. She was in love with me, too. I just had to get her back to prove it.

THEO'S POV:

"Wait here until she wakes up," Deucalion told me as he headed down the hallway.

I turned around. "Where are you going?"

"To take care of some business." He grew smaller as he faded from view.

He was so secretive with good reason.

I leaned against the doorway, my eyes fell on the limp Malia on the floor, a quick huff left me. The look on her face when she realized I was with Deucalion was only a glimpse of what I'd get when the others figured it out too. When Liam figured it out. He looked at me like he had faith in me like he believed I could be a better person. And that kiss that, that first kiss on the steps played over in my mind. I knew he didn't want to trust me or like me, but the same thing that told me I knew him had to have told me the same thing.

His texts burned in my pocket.

Twinky: Where are you?

Twinky: Are you okay?

Before I left I took a confirmation photo of Kylie alive and safe, then I told Coach I had to go out of town for the day for some business involving my family. He told me to take the day no problem.

I hated to leave Liam in the dark, but I couldn't bring myself to engage with him further. He'd already be hurt enough by what I'd done. Making him care about me, even more, would be a dick move. So I had to shut it down.

My eyes went around the room. These people didn't deserve this. Months ago I wouldn't have seen it that way, I was grateful that I could now. I see that what Deucalion did to me was purely for his benefit, that in his twisted mind he cared about me like a son, but you couldn't love who you didn't equal. To him, power was everything. We were his plaything. Disposable.

When I asked him for an out he wasn't happy about it, beat the crap out of me, and gave me this mission. If I succeeded then he'd bring the one person back that truly loved me. My dad.

My attention turned to one of the doors along the hall. I knew it was down here somewhere.

The cryo chamber was inside with Melissa McCall. She was in a deep slumber like she had been for months. She was Deucalion's bargaining chip in getting Scott to join us. His goons messed it up, but as luck would have it he had the magic serum.

I closed the door behind me and went to sit in the middle of the entryway, my arms propped on my knees. When did we become these people? Why I become this person? I hadn't been a person at all. Not until I met Liam.

I didn't know if I was going crazy or what but I'd seen another memory of us somewhere else. I was blind there, too. But it was different. Liam kept trying to fix it. He bought me some braille books and paints. If it made me weak to tear up over it then so be it. I was weak, but Liam made me stronger.

Twenty minutes later Malia jolted up into a coughing fit. Her eyes darted around frantically, her hands went to her neck. She settled on me and rose with fire in her eyes.

"You son of a bitch." She tore a path my way, grabbed my shirt and lifted me so her fist knocked into my face. "You sat there and watch us run around with our heads cut off, you watched us try to save Allison, and you did nothing!" She reeled her hand back and hit me again. "You let him snap my neck!" When I didn't block her attempts she surveyed me. "Why aren't you fighting back?"

I sagged on the ground. "Because you're right."

Her fist faltered. "What?"

"I said you're right."

Her jaw clenched. She groaned, then shoved me onto the ground. "Then why are you doing this? Why are you helping him?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me."

I sat up with my back against the wall. "I'm trying to get my life together, back to how it used to be." My mind went back to when I was young and sweet. "I was good once."

She sat across from me. "What happened?"

"I think you know."

Her head shook. "Tell me that's not true."

"What do you mean?"

"Tell me he didn't do to you what he did to us, what he's doing to that girl up there?"

Repulsion filled me at the thoughts. "No, he was never like that with me." My mind went to the nice memories I had of us and realized them for what they were. "The process to become what I am, a Chimera, ensures that you're loyal to him." My eyes went to the person's visible from the hall. "He kills you, then brings you back. You wake up with these new powers, new senses, power that you've never experienced before, and gratitude to him for making you into that."

"I didn't have that experience." She defended.

"Because you were born into this. The rest of us weren't. It's different for us. I know that doesn't make it okay. But he does this, he knows how to weed out the weak. We're angry, we're hungry, and we're willing to make someone suffer for our pain. It doesn't have to be morally okay if that's how we felt."

She raised her brow. "Felt?"

"I don't feel that anymore."

She shrugged. "Why should I believe you?"

"Because you can hear my heartbeat. You can tell I'm not lying."

"What if you really believe what you're saying, but you're still brainwashed?"

The thought hadn't crossed my mind, but I guess it was a possibility.

"If that's the case then you need to put me down."

She scanned my face for any sign of a lie. "Okay."

"Promise me, you're the only one that I can trust with this."

"Why can't you go to Liam about this? He would help you, he's a good kid."

My hand ran down my face. "Don't you think I know that? I'm trying to keep him out of these."

"You know he likes you. How is that going to pan out in your head?"

There hadn't been a scenario that I had worked out that went my way.

"It won't, but I still have to try. He's different than anybody that I've ever known. There are things about that are so familiar. I don't know how to explain it."

"No, I understand. Trust me, I understand."

I recalled that night she stopped Scott from killing me. She said something along the lines of knowing me from somewhere. Scott said she couldn't be sure. I wonder what they meant by that.

"How'd you get past Scott to get here?" He never would've let her do this willingly.

She looked up at the ceiling. "Can you just promise me you won't tell him where I am?"

"Why would you want me not to?"

"Because he'd come after me. He'd get himself killed. There's too many of them here."

I wanted to say the three of them made it work to rescue Kylie, but that was because I tipped Deucalion off. He didn't want to be found just then. Sure, he wanted Scott with him, but if wouldn't do what he wanted he'd put him down.

I nodded. "I'll do my best."

She gestured to the others in the room. "I'm going to end up like them, like you. What does that even mean? You said you were a Chi-what?"

"Chimera. Sort of a hybrid mix of two things with two sets of DNA."

She sighed and leaned her head back against the wall. "I can't believe this is my life now."

A wave of empathy washed over me. Been there done that.

"Word to the wise, don't fight it."

"What do you mean?" She brought her head up to focus on me.

I glanced down the hall and back at her. "He's going to test you with something you won't want to do. You're going to have to do it either way. Turn it off."

Her brow quirked. "Like my emotions?"

I nodded. "It's like a switch, you flip it, and it makes all of this easier. It doesn't make any of it better, just easier. You'll be able to sleep at night after the first few months or so."

Depending on when Deucalion was planning his takedown, if the others joined her she might be able to get used to it. I hoped that wouldn't the case, that they'd find some way to stop him from doing all of this to anybody else ever again. I just needed my dad alive first.

She stared at me for awhile. "You knew he had Kylie and you didn't tell me,"

"Hey, I could've called the authorities that night you had sex with Scott with me in the other room, but I didn't. It sounded like he was murdering you."

Despite everything around her, the permanent frown on her face turned into an amused grin.

I leaned forward. "Was it as good as it sounded?"

A smirk played on her lips, her head tilted in remembrance. "Hell yes."

Even if it was a moment about nothing important I held onto it because knowing everything she knew she still sat and talked to me like a good person.

The trip back to school was a relief and daunting at the same time. One of Deucalion's driver's dropped me off downtown and I walked the rest of the way to campus.

I scanned my faculty ID at the entrance and started for my room. I picked up Liam's scent before I went to the floor.

He sat outside my door with a box beside him.

"What are you doing here?" I asked as I walked up, I kept my head low.

He stood. "You didn't answer my text. I was worried. Coach said you took a day to yourself. Whatever that meant."

"Exactly what it sounds like."

He gave a fed up laugh. "I've been waiting here for like two hours," He passed me. "And for what?"

Even though I knew it was the right thing to do, I couldn't let him walk away.

I pulled him back. "Come inside."

He stood there.

Leaving it up to him, I left the door open.

A few moments passed until he walked inside and closed the door behind him.

I turned on a lamp and faced him.

He sat the box by the door. "My mom wanted you to have this." He turned around, stared at me, and rushed over.

I winced as he ran his fingers along the hairline cut Malia gave me. "Easy." My hand grabbed his.

His eyes ran over my face, then settled on my eyes. "What happened? Where were you?"

Maybe I should just tell him the truth. I did terrible things and now I was trying to escape my past to start over. But he wouldn't understand. Would he?

I swallowed the dry lump in my throat. "Don't ask questions you don't want answers to, Liam."

His confusion disappeared, replaced by understanding. "You know where she is..."

"Go home, Liam." It wasn't a confession, but it might as well have been.

Resentment shined in his grayish blue eyes. He shoved me back. "They were right." He shoved me back harder. "I defended you!"

"Lower your voice," I begged.

He looked like he had everything to say, but nothing came out. His blood boiled in deception and betrayal. "I did things with you. I almost had sex with you, Theo." His eyes burned into mine.

I moved toward him. "Liam, I know," My eyes begged him to understand.

"And you were going to turn around stab us in the back, stab me in the back?"

"Liam," My hand squeezed into a fist by my nose. "It's not that simple. There's so much that you don't understand."

"Then make me understand! How could you do this to us, to me? We've been nothing but good to you. We helped you. _I_ helped you. God, my parents came down to meet you today." His head shook in utter disbelief, his eyes turned shiny and pink. "If Deucalion asked you to kill one of us would you have done it?"

If it was in the way of getting my dad back, then yes. Would I be happy about it? No. But would I do it? Yes.

I nodded.

He moved closer, his eyes read mine. "If he'd asked you to kill _me_ would you have done it?"

I sighed. "Liam," I didn't know the right words for him.

He nodded, then headed for the door.

The thought of losing him now propelled me forward.

My hand grabbed his. "Please,"

He tore his hand away. "What could you have to say that would make _any_ of this okay?"

"I'm doing this for us," I stressed, my voice entirely laced with desperation.

He turned around to me with a grimace. "What?"

"I'm trying to protect you. If Deucalion gets his hands on you..." The words wouldn't come again. I didn't think this conversation would come so soon. "I may not be the person you thought I was, but I've been protecting you this entire time. When I saw you that first night something changed in me. I see things."

He stilled. "What are you talking about?"

"The two of us." I gave a wry laugh. "I know that it sounds crazy and creepy, but I know that I know you from some other place. I felt it when I kissed you. And I keep seeing us. Together."

He stared at me with guarded eyes.

"You don't believe me," I stated.

He turned half way away, his hands propped on his hips. "I need some time to think." His hand wrapped around the door handle.

"Liam,"

"I won't say anything to the others. Mostly because if I did then they'd kill you on the spot." He opened the door and left.

I stared at the door.

He slid back inside and grabbed the package. "You don't deserve my mom's box." He slammed the door behind him.

My back turned toward the door and I slid to the floor. My head rested on my knees, the tears fell from my eyes. I had always felt alone in this world since my dad died and now I felt like I was in a ghost town. I wanted things to work out for these people, but I wanted my dad back more.

I knew it wasn't the best idea, but tonight I was getting drunk.

LIAM'S POV:

It was like two in the morning. Theo kept blowing up my phone. I rolled over to get my phone.

"Dude," Mason groaned, he put his pillow over his head.

There were four missed calls from him. While I didn't want to talk I should answer in case something was going on.

I called him back. "What's up?"

"Is this Liam?" A girl asked, her voice rang a bell, but I couldn't place it.

"Yeah, who is this?" I checked to make sure I had the right number.

"My name's Meredith, I'm with your friend Theo. He's pretty plastered. I didn't want to let him go home like that by himself."

How was he drunk?

I sat up. "Not that I mind but why did you call me?" I asked her.

"He kept talking about you, kept saying your name, and you were his emergency contact."

That weighed on me.

"Okay, I'm on my way." I dismissed her. "Give me like fifteen minutes."

Mason mumbled something into the sheets, but I knew what he wanted to know.

I put a shirt on and grabbed my shoes. "Theo's drunk off his ass. I'm going to take him back to his place, won't be back."

When I got to the frat house she said they were at she was holding him up while they sat on the curb. He wasn't even coherent.

She looked up at me and breathed a sigh of relief. "Sorry to dump him on you, I just knew he was an AC and I knew you knew him better."

I recognized her as one of the desk aids in the library. He talked about getting her number and I couldn't help the jealousy that rolled around in me, but I had to get that from my head to get him together.

"Let me get an Uber." I pulled up the app on my phone.

"Already got one, it's on the way." She said, she stood as best she could with the dead weight of Theo's massive body on her. Poor girl. He was a monster.

I collected him from her and almost gagged.

As fate would have it the Uber pulled up just then.

"If he throws up in my backseat I'll have to bill you, kid." The driver warned.

My eyes scanned Theo's slack body against the door on his side. "I know."

The driver cracked the windows.

I couldn't help but snicker. He did stink.

My mind tried to come up with reasons why he would get this drunk in public and put his job on the line. Students would notice him, he was tall and sexy. There was no way you could not notice him.

Thank God it was too late for the DA to be on shift so I scanned his ID and got us into the building, the second security door, and the elevator.

"Why'd you do this, Theo?" I asked the air. It wasn't like he was going to answer me.

Once at his room, I stripped Theo of his clothes so I could wash him off in the shower. The smell of alcohol and most likely puke that followed him wasn't going away.

"What happened to you?" Again I asked myself this.

Our fight earlier wouldn't leave my mind. I refused to feel guilty about that, but if what Meredith said earlier was true then he couldn't stop thinking about me either.

Getting him dressed was the hard part. When I leaned him against the wall to get his clothes he fell to the linoleum with a thud. I held my fist to my mouth in speculation. It looked bad. His white ass almost glowed in the moonlight, something I tried not to grin at. I just grabbed his shorts to pull them on his legs then the shirt to stuff his arms through.

I brought him to my bed. I didn't have the capacity to sleep. Not when I had to watch over him. He mumbled every so often, but it didn't make any sense.

Was I naive to still care about him and be worried? Yeah, I hated him right now, but I wasn't going to leave him the wolves. Seeing him like that was actually really scary. Anything could've happened to him. Anyone could've taken advantage of him. Could've hurt him.

An aggravated sigh left me. Why was I so goddamn loyal? At that, it should've been Scott I was loyal to, not Theo after everything I found out.

When Mason asked why I was upset when I got back to the room after our fight I brushed it off and got ready for my night out with the guys. He said he didn't feel like drinking tonight so I went without him. Jackson and the guys knew how to party, I had fun. I deserved it. I flirted with some guys there, got some numbers.

Just in case I fell asleep beside him I set alarms for every thirty minutes on my phone to check on him.

Beside him, nostalgia filled my mind. I wanted to go back to the days that my biggest worry was trying not to kiss him. Maybe if I hadn't been so weak and pulled in by his muscles, sexy haircut, and confidence then we wouldn't be in this mess. If we could've stayed friends maybe I wouldn't feel like someone stomped on my heart.

When the room started to lighten I turned off the alarms with sleep heavy on my eyes.

Sometime later a coughing woke me up.

Surprisingly my arm and leg were wrapped around his body.

Our eyes met.

"Hmmm," He looked me over and cracked a lazy grin that shouldn't look so good on someone in the morning.

I pulled away. "Sorry,"

"A hot guy wrapped around me isn't the worst thing to wake up to in the world."

My face blushed.

He chuckled. "Not that I'm objecting, but what are you doing in my bed?" Amusement danced in his eyes as he awaited my answer.

I sat up to look at him. "You don't remember?"

His eyes widened, he glanced back at his ass and shot a raised eyebrow at me. "If we had sex and I don't remember I'm going to have to say we didn't have sex."

My eyes rolled. "We didn't have sex, Theo. You got fucked off your ass on Buffalo st. Meredith called me to come get you." I stared at him, ready for an explanation.

The amusement fell from his face as it turned cold. "What?"

I nodded.

"How is that even possible?"

I gestured to his fridge. "Don't you have that concoction that makes us drunk? You didn't down that?"

His head shook. "No, I don't have any left." He rose from the bed, his hard cock at attention.

My jaw clenched to try and control my urge to reach forward and pull him to me for a lick. He didn't deserve a lick, a suck, or a fuck, but that didn't mean I didn't want to give it to him. I'd chuck my pride out the window if he were to lean over to kiss me and I'd pull him onto me. He was great at sucking dick.

"If you didn't drink any of it then how'd you get drunk?"

He looked at me. "It's funny, I don't feel hungover like I should. I just feel weird." Concern laced his voice.

My head shook. "So like you think you were roofied or-" I stilled. He'd almost been completely unresponsive. Most drunk people have something to say. Meredith said he only had like three drinks. I looked back up at him and jumped off the bed. "We should go to the police."

I thought about what Mason said yesterday and I had to wonder if a man of color went into a police station and reported that he got roofied would it be taken seriously? I didn't want to think about the world like that, but with the information, I learned through Mason wouldn't I be naive not to?

He gazed at me with soft eyes.

"What?"

He moved a step closer. "You still care,"

My head shook. "I can't go there with you right now." Of course, I still cared. I was an idiot. I slipped away to use his bathroom. When I came back he held my phone.

"Who the fuck is Sam?" He asked, his chest puffed and his tone territorial.

Damn if it didn't look good on him.

I shrugged. "Some guy I met at the club last night."

"'Hey, it's Sam'," He read. "'Here's a picture of my dick hottie'." He threw the phone onto the bed. "Real classy, Liam."

Was he really saying that to me?

"You're one to talk?" I pushed into my shoes. "You know, you're welcome for last night by the way." I headed for the door. "After what you put me through _anybody_ else would've left you to drown in your own vomit." I turned around. "It's my fault that I care about you really. My bad." I moved for the door.

He was across the room in a flash. He turned me around to face him, his body pressed into mine, his cock rubbed against my stomach while his mouth attacked mine like it had a mission.

I couldn't help but moan as I pulled away from the kiss to catch my breath. "Theo, I can't do this..." I trailed off when he lowered to his knees for me.

His stormy gray eyes gazed into mine. "Can't I thank you for last night?" He slid down my sweats and my erection popped out like a spring. He had no problem taking it all in his mouth.

My eyes fluttered. "I mean, yeah," I gasped against the wall. "Just this once."

His hands grabbed my ass for more leverage.

God, his mouth was perfect.

He lowered a little more, grabbed my hips tight and rose.

My legs automatically went around his shoulders. My eyes widened in shock. "What are you doing?"

He carried me to bed just like that. His eyes locked on mine the whole time.

I almost came from the action alone. My resolved died off and I reached for his shirt, then took mine off.

He looked at me with confused eyes. He didn't know what I wanted.

So I grabbed his neck and pulled him down to my mouth. My hands brought our cocks together so I could jerk them off together.

He moaned sexily into my mouth. When he pulled away he said, "Liam, we don't have to-"

"Stop talking," I demanded. I rubbed my cock against his and groaned.

His brow arched, but he didn't say anything. His mouth went to my neck and kissed a path up and down it that had me squirming.

My hands sped up around us.

His kisses turned into biting and sucking.

"Fuck," I let out a breathy moan. He felt soooo good against me. Even though I knew he was marking me for others to see I didn't care because his hands pushed mine away to replace them. There was nothing else like the feeling of someone else's hands on your genitalia. It just felt better.

He wasn't playing around, his hands moved like lightning.

"Oh my God," I moaned. "Theo," My hands grabbed his face and dragged his lips to mine to tug fiercely on them.

He seemed to like it from the growl that filled the room.

Oh God, he was so hot.

He grabbed my cock to focus on, leaving his all alone.

Not on my watch.

My hand wrapped around his because when did I not want to jack off a hot guy and make him cum?

His thumb rubbed my head in circles.

My head went back. "You're trying to kill me."

He took the opportunity to kiss from my chin to my chest with a grin. "Not quite."

My hand squeezed him.

He groaned. "We have to get to practice soon."

"Yes, Coach." I said without thinking, it was automatic from practice.

He looked down at me with an arched brow and a smirk.

God, he liked that. What did I just get myself into?

"I guess I better hurry." He said before he lowered his mouth back down to my cock.

My hand missed holding his, but I couldn't protest when he licked me like a lollipop. Once I was all the way in his throat my hips bucked.

He moaned around me, his hands on my hips.

I cried out when he continuously deepthroated me. It was a dream come true. My hands went to his hair so I could meet him halfway with my thrusts.

He liked this just as much as I did.

"You want me to cum down your throat, Coach?"

He groaned in approval.

My body tightened in preparation for an orgasm. With his eyes on me, I gave him what he wanted. "Shit, Theo." I grumbled, trying to keep quiet so the whole hall didn't hear, but it might've been too late for that.

He drank every last drop, then sucked his way off of me. "Damn, you taste good." He moved to crawl up the bed over me.

I brought my hand to him and jerked him off with our time crunch in mind.

"Liam," His eyes closed while he bit his lip. He opened them to look at me. "I'm sorry,"

My mouth tugged on his to shut him up. "Just hurry up and cum already." I sped up my motions, my mouth went to his ear and pulled it between my teeth.

"Uhh," His body jerked.

"You like that?" I whispered in his ear.

He bucked into my hand. "Yeah, don't stop." He sucked in a breath.

My hand stopped.

He cursed. "Liam,"

I gave a little chuckle in his ear. "Beg me to let you cum, Coach."

His hips moved in my hand, but it wasn't enough for him with my other hand holding him in place. "Please let me cum."

"I can't hear you."

"Come on, Liam." He begged. "I need to cum so bad. Keep jerking me off." His hand wrapped around mine. "Please let me cum." He hung by a thread with my answer in the air.

I smirked against his cheek and worked my hand up and down.

"Can I cum?"

"Not yet,"

He gave a guttural groan of annoyance. "I can't hold off."

I licked up his neck. "I said not yet." I stopped again.

His blue eyes held murder in them as he glared at me.

"Isn't it so fun when someone plays with you like this, is it?"

His eyes softened. "Let me make it up to you,"

I ignored him and slid my hand up his length so I could be done with this.

"Liam," He cried out. "I'm going to cum."

My hand stopped to smack his cock. "What did I say?"

He let out a noise of frustration.

I cracked a grin. "Now you can cum."

"Oh fuck!" He all but yelled as he shot string after string onto my chest. "Yes,"

I took some of it on my finger and brought it to my mouth.

He gaped at me as another orgasm hit him.

I let him catch his breath before untangling from him and getting dressed. I went for the door.

"Wait a minute," He reached for my hand. "We're not going to talk about us?"

My eyes narrowed a bit. "There's not an us to talk about." I pulled away.

His eyes tried to read mine. "So that was just...what?"

"A hookup." I supplied. "See you at practice, Coach." I shut the door behind me. Halfway down the hall, I blew out the breath of confidence that gave me the courage to write him off.

A/N: If yall want to watch the short clip of that White Supremacist calling a Black woman a Nigger at the protest I just reblogged it on my tumblr, Brostavorunsmylifenowareyouhappy. Also, if anyone is questioning why Malia would go through all of this for her sister(like maybe you have a sibling but you don't get along very well) I would do the same for my big sister. If you don't buy it then try me and we'll settle this in the street. XD But really though don't fuck with my sister cuz I will end you, your entire family, and your dog.


	14. Recalibrate fic

Hey yall so unconventional shoutout but I'm doing this cuz this new friend reached out to me with her appraisal of one of my Scalia fics and asked me to read hers. IT'S A SCALIA SHOWER SCENE ONE SHOT.

BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITCH YOU NEED TO READ IT.

I don't find many fics that are written in characters as canon characters, usually their tone is off or unrealistic. TheFictionalMe got it right her first try with Scalia. It was paced well, believable, and I could actually see it happening in canon the way she wrote it. Not gonna lie a bead of jealousy formed in me while reading it like this hoe did not just upstage me (she's not a hoe that's just how i think and what i call everybody sorry not sorry). I loved it. I think yall will too. It's smutty but not too dirty if you're not into that.

If you've never left me a review, do me a solid and write her one because she's considering writing more to it or another one if people like it and let her know. HELP A GIRL OUT AND JUST LEAVE A FEW KIND WORDS OR YOUR HONEST OPINION. IT'LL TAKE LESS THAN A MINUTE TO WRITE ONE AS A GUEST IF YOU DON'T HAVE AN ACCOUNT.

The fic is TheFictionalMe "Recalibrate"

s/12573709/1/Recalibrate

ALSO IF YOU HAVEN'T READ MY GIRL'S ETHEREALMINDSS FIC "SMOKE AND MIRRORS" THAT'S THIAM AND SCALIA THEN SCOPE HERS OUT AND DROP SOME LOVE. HEADS UP IF YOU HAVEN'T READ HERS YOU WILL BE A LITTLE LOST IN THE UPCOMING CHAPTERS BECAUSE WE ARE ABOU

HEADS UP IF YOU HAVEN'T READ HERS YOU WILL BE A LITTLE LOST IN THE UPCOMING CHAPTERS BECAUSE WE ARE ABOUT TO CROSSOVER OUR FICS ONCE WE GET OUR STORYLINES AT TIMES WHERE THEY CAN CORRELATE.

LET ME REPEAT THIS FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK THAT DON'T READ ANNOUNCEMENTS: ETHEREALMINDSS AND I ARE DOING A CROSSOVER SOMETIME SOON WITH OUR SCALIA/THIAM FICS AND IF YOU HAVEN'T READ HER FIC SMOKE AND MIRRORS THEN YOU WILL BE LOST. IF YOU ASK ME WHAT'S GOING ON IN MY REVIEW SECTION ABOUT SOMETHING YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND REGARDING HER CHARACTERS I WON'T EXPLAIN IT TO YOU. YOU'LL EITHER HAVE TO BE LOST OR READ HER FIC.


	15. Crossover Alert

Hey y'all! Just wanted y'all to know again that Etherealmindss and I are collaborating our fics into a crossover so this is a reminder to READ HER FIC SMOKE AND MIRRORS and get caught up on it because my next chapter will have them in it and if you're not familiar with her plot or characters it won't make sense probably so please read hers before you read my next chapter which I hope to have up by tomorrow and if not tomorrow then Monday cuz my Sunday is busy and fucking Teen Wolf is premiering!

Friendly reminder, please don't leave comments about trailers or the show if has nothing to do with my chapters because it's disheartening to get a review and have it not be at all about what you worked hard on. If you want to talk about the show with me DM me on here or my Tumblr brostavorunsmylifenowareyouhappy, my Twitter StavosBrooke or my insta coach_deniqua same for my snapchat


	16. Non Believer

The song for this chapter is London Grammar - Non Believer

Notice: IF YOU HAVEN'T READ ETHEREALMINDSS SCALIA FIC "SMOKE AND MIRRORS" THEN THE END OF THIS CHAPTER WON'T MAKE SENSE. WE WILL BE CROSSING OVER OUR SCALIA COLLEGE FICS FOR A FEW CHAPTERS.

MALIA'S POV:

After Theo left Deucalion collected me to join his business meeting, which turned out to be his interrogation of Isaac.

I didn't know what he wanted me there for, he didn't ask anything of me.

Isaac was chained to a table. His face was bruised black and blue and yellow.

Deucalion knocked his fist into his face once more. "Where do your loyalties lie, Isaac?"

Isaac spit out another wad of blood. "For the last time, I'm not doing your dirty work anymore. Let one of your other pets do it."

Deucalion smirked. "Malia, hand me the rag over there would you,"

It was like three feet from him.

With a roll of my eyes, I unfolded my arms and gave it to him.

He used it to wipe his slit open knuckles. "I could always use Camden instead."

Isaac glanced at me, wondering what I was doing here and why I kept quiet.

I could see in his eyes that he was only another punch away from losing his shit.

"You've kept me alive this long," He exhaled heavily. "You want something from me. How do I know you don't already have Camden working for you?"

"Guess you'll just have to take your chances," Deucalion tossed the rag onto the table. "I would say clean yourself up, but you can't." He turned on his heel, his deep chuckle echoed in the room. "I have a soft spot for you, so I'll do you a favor. Your execution will be tonight." He passed through the door.

My eyes widened. I looked at Isaac.

"Malia, follow me. We're about to have some fun."

I swallowed the lump in my throat but left Isaac behind.

He was like me. Deucalion manipulated him, used the same leverage. The only difference was that Isaac was done obeying orders and I was just getting started. If I wanted to walk away would that be my fate too?

STILES' POV:

I knocked on Kylie's door.

She looked up from her guitar.

"Hey," I leaned against the door. "Can I come in?"

She nodded.

I pointed to the instrument in her hands. "Is it helping?"

Her shoulders shrugged. "If it is I can't tell."

My eyes drifted around the room.

"Did you want something?"

I leaned against the wall near the window. "If you don't want to live, I get that. I've been there. You can ask Scott and Lydia."

"You tried to kill yourself?"

My eyes went to hers. "I landed myself in a mental institution, what do you think?"

She processed that. "You don't seem like a nut job."

I gave a small grin. "No one truly unstable seems that way."

"So I'm not unstable,"

"No," I nodded. "You're definitely unstable."

Surprisingly, she laughed. "You're not wrong."

"Glad you agree," I placed my hands on my hips. "I'll tell you something else, we're both still here. You're still here. After dying twice." My eyes held hers. "What does that tell you?"

"That I'm a cockroach that won't lay down," She posed, unphased at her own self-roast.

My brow lifted. "To rephrase, it means that you're here for a reason. You were brought back to life for a reason. Twice. That doesn't happen like ever, so I need you to do something for me."

Her curiosity spike.

"Help me get your sister back."

She narrowed her gaze. "I'm listening,"

I pushed off the wall. "The thing is, my girlfriend isn't quite healed up all the way and I'm not going to risk her health, so I'm going to risk yours instead. Now get up."

"You're talking about Allison?" She questioned.

"Yes, of course, Allison. Who else would I be talking about?"

She placed the guitar to the side. "It seemed like there was something between you and Lydia."

A thinking hum sat on my mouth before I said, "Negative."

"Whatever," She stood. "If I can't help myself what makes you think I can help Malia's? I'm better off in the ground." She walked past me.

My leg kicked into her back.

She fell to the carpeted floor. "What is your problem?" Her eyes shot to mine.

"You want to be a cockroach, be a cockroach on the floor." I kicked her hand from under her.

Her eyes turned a grass green with anger. She rose with a purpose in her eyes, her fist shot out without having a landing.

My hands blocked her enough so that my leg swept hers from under her.

She seethed on the floor.

"Stiles," Scott rushed in. "What are you doing?"

I held a tentative finger up. "Malia meant something to me in that other life," I stared into his eyes. "And if we can use Kylie as bait to get her back then so be it." I looked down at her.

"We're not using anyone as bait," Allison helped her up. "What the hell?"

A frustrated sigh left me. "I'm not saying we just drop her there. We train her, make her stronger, prepare her for when we find them. Deucalion isn't going to say no if she pretends she wants to go back to him. He'll be skeptical, but he'll listen. Which will give us enough time to find Malia and bring her home."

Kira sighed. "I'm probably going to regret this, but I think that's a good plan."

"Thank you," I was glad someone could see straight and not be blinded by a young girl when she clearly had more to offer than a damsel in distress.

"Don't get used to it," Kira added.

I pretended that that hadn't stung. I thought we were making headway.

She winked at me, but there was nothing sexual or romantic about it. She probably had a better chance at getting a girl than I could.

"I'll do it," Kylie threw out.

We all looked at her.

She nodded. "I'll do it. If it, only if you let me kill Deucalion?"

I bent over, a hand held out. "You've got yourself a deal."

She rose on her own.

"Wait a minute, you don't have that kind of authority," Kira walked forward, her bravado ahead of her. "Scott does." She gave a head nod in his direction. "And even if he didn't want to kill Deucalion as much as Kylie, Lydia and I have just as much right over the matter if not more."

Kylie shot her a dirty look. "Because he raped you first that means you have more to be angry about? He got me pregnant,"

"Look here you little bitch-"

Lydia put herself between them. "What Kira meant was that we all want Deucalion gone and in the heat of the moment if we all have the opportunity we'll want to take it." Her hand lovingly shoved Kira back a few paces. "Whatever it takes."

Kylie had her fists balled at her sides, her face a mask of unbothered ness.

What I'd seen was she was good at hiding her feelings. Clearly, there was all this rage inside her, sitting there, waiting to be tapped into. If utilized properly she could be a real asset to the pack. She could even become a Hunter, I saw the potential in her, but baby steps.

She stood in front of me. "What do I need to do?"

Kira, Lydia, and I taught Kylie some simple moves, which she had trouble with, but was eager to learn. While we practiced Scott put together a Wing Chun stand Malia got for Allie. Once that was assembled I wrapped her hands, feet, and ankles. This wasn't going to be a pleasant experience for her, but the little bit of will she had was to keep her sister safe. That besides her stored rage at Deucalionwase the only things powering her forward.

"Thank you," Kylie told him. "Stiles was the only one who knew what he was doing,"

Kira sneered as she reached for her with murder in her eyes.

Lydia held her back. "We're leaving,"

"No, I'll leave. I've got to see a girl about something to eat anyway." She headed for the door.

Scott and I looked at each other and wiggled our brows suggestively.

Lydia turned back to us, then shook her head with light amusement before she tugged Scott along with her so the room cleared.

Kylie wasn't good by any means, but she was agreeable. That made her moldable.

She kept wincing at the wood hitting her skin and bone, bruises already formed, but she didn't give up when I gave her new direction.

I grabbed her water bottle and tossed it to her. "I'm going to ask you this one more time, are you sure you want this?"

"Yes."

"Then act like it, Tate."

She shoved the stand back. "I'm trying here." She pointed at herself. "You convinced me to fight so you don't get to bitch about the pace I do it in. I'm still standing, that counts for something." Her blocks grew faster.

I neared her. "Oh, poor you. You killed yourself."

She put more force behind her arms as they worked against the stand.

"You want us to hand you everything on a platter with a smile? You're not that fragile, you're just an idiot."

Her forearm knocked into one of the blocks with a splintering of wood, it tumbled to the floor.

Even though I was impressed, I didn't show it. "There it is again. If you want to do this, be good at this, then you need to stay angry."

She turned to me with a chest heaving huff. "I think I can manage that."

"Good." I nodded to the stand. "Again." I backed away to observe her. "It helps if you imagine his face."

Her darkness took me back to when I lost the rest of my family, my dad. If it had not been for Allie and Scott then I didn't know where I'd be.

I looked up from the floor.

Lydia stood in view from the kitchen, she ate a cup of yogurt. The light streamed through the blinds, highlighting her strawberry blonde hair that wasn't actually strawberry blonde anymore and pale skin. There was more orange in her hair. She almost looked ethereal.

She must've felt my gaze when she turned to glance my way. She took in Kylie taking her issues out on the Wing Chun stand and her indecision green eyes met mine. I guess she didn't think this was such a good idea after all.

I held my arms open in question. What else could I contribute?

Her finger tapped her temple, then pointed at me.

I gestured to myself.

She thought I was smart? I mean, I was, but enough to impart knowledge on Kylie? I'd already given her every bit of encouragement I had.

My brow arched.

Her red painted lips tugged at a grin. She held her hand in the air to do the shaka sign.

Really?

Lydia was far from the hang ten type of girl.

I repeated the motion with an impressed half grin.

She tucked her long wavy hair behind her ear, then walked away with a smile as she ate another spoonful of yogurt.

Since we all spoke up about our other lives I couldn't look at Lydia the same. Before it was easy to ignore, but I remembered loving her and her loving me. I couldn't recall all of it, but I could see it clear as day. That life...that life was far from ours and my love was in the other room.

I stilled. Allison was my love. The fact that I could admit that to myself spoke volumes.

I turned my attention back to Kylie. "You're doing kind of horrible, to be honest," I told her.

She stared. "Aren't you supposed to be encouraging me?"

"Yeah, but your stance is all wrong. You're not focused. You don't have a target in mind and you're not in control of your movements. You're too angry."

"You told me to be angry!" She seethed.

I walked over. "Anger is a good emotion to harness, but you can't let it control you in a fight. You'll lash out, do whatever to harm the other person, but it doesn't let you see clearly." I pointed to her chest. "As soon as you work through what's in there you'll get it up here." I pointed to her head.

"That's a load of crap,"

I stared at her, knowing that she had put on this angry front and didn't know how to take it down yet.

She gave a look of worry, then her eyes met mine with a hint of gratitude. "I'll work on it." She straightened up and went back to work.

MALIA'S POV:

I followed behind Deucalion. "So you're just going to kill him? Just like that?"

He kept up the stairs. "If he doesn't give me what I want, then yeah."

"Why not just turn him into what you turned Theo into?"

"Theo was willing," I started up the stairs.

He glanced back at me. "Theo's like a son to me, that was different. I offered him a new life that he wanted."

I didn't have time to try and figure out his mind, so I said, "You offered me that same deal."

He gave a dry chuckle. "You and I both know that you didn't make that choice lightly, but all in due time."

My jaw clenched.

"You'll have to change for our mission."

I looked down at my clothes. "What's wrong with what I have on?"

"You stink is putting it mildly."

"You make me gag is putting it mildly." I shot back.

He gave an actual laugh. "I'll take that as a compliment."

I looked to the side as I reached the top. "You shouldn't."

"Take care of yourself. Meet us downstairs when you're done."

I took my sweet ass time, then made my way outside in the all black tactical ensemble that was laid across my bed.

My arms raised in the air. "What's this? What am I doing?"

He handed me a black hat. "We're going to take out a few Hunters."

"Excuse me?" I snatched the hat away. "I'm not doing that."

"Oh, but you are. They're getting smarter about how to hunt and kill us. We take their cargo they don't have anything to hunt or kill us with for the time being." He held the door open. "If you want to survive long enough to figure out how to get back to your friends then you'll get in."

What game was he playing?

I got inside.

I came here for a reason and that didn't pan out. I stayed here to protect my sister, to give her a better life, and if I wanted to uphold that then I'd go along with this until things were fixed. He was a fool if he thought I'd agree to stay here forever, even if he soaped me up with some mysterious potion.

The warehouse we pulled up to was heavily guarded, but Deucalion's SUV's were bulletproof and our shots cracked the windows enough to take out the men they spotted.

"We're taking out the men inside, grabbing their weapons, then torching the place. That's it."

My forehead creased. "Oh, is that all? I thought we'd actually be partaking in something illegal."

He gave me a blank look then jabbed a needle into my leg. "Should be the last treatment."

I stared at him wildly. "You bastard. If you don't stop sticking me with..." I trailed off at the wave of power that trickled through my veins, leaving me on a high I never felt before even with drugs.

He stared at me with a grin. "You feel that, huh?"

Whatever it was I shouldn't have enjoyed it, but I did.

The car stopped ahead.

"Be ready. I need you." He instructed.

I slid out of the car on high alert, my weapon ready. My finger itched along the trigger. It wasn't like these Hunters were all upstanding men of the law. They killed people. Some of them deserved what they got, but I didn't. My friends didn't. I'd come across some gnarly ones before that didn't know how to distinguish between the code and vendettas.

I followed the men inside with the sole purpose of getting this over with. My vision blurred a bit.

"Take a deep breath," Deucalion said behind me.

I did as instructed.

"Calm your mind. You know what is best. What is best is you comply. Compliance will be rewarded."

I tried to clear through all the jumble of lately. His words ran through my mind over and over until I could see clearly. I moved forward with my gun amongst the bloodshed and fired away.

"Shift, Malia," He said from the entryway, watching us all in pride.

My body wracked with a transformation I wasn't used to. My fangs took a new, sleeker shape. Scales peppered my skin instead of what I thought would be fur. My tongue shot out as I hissed at the nearest Hunter. My pupils shaped into vertical slits.

He stared in horror and confusion.

"Attack, Malia." Deucalion guided.

The Hunter's dagger sliced into my shoulder.

I pushed him back with so much force he flew into the wall with a sizable dent. I looked down at my hands and held them up for inspection.

Another Hunter charged me.

My claws cut his throat before he could make a move. His blood stained me at the distance.

I continued to fight until every weapon was loaded into the cars. In the back of my mind, I knew it wasn't fine that I was enjoying this, but I was here and they were aiming at us. It was them or me. So I chose me.

I bit into another Hunter's leg.

He screamed in agony, then shot into my leg.

"Fall back," Deucalion called.

One of his men shot the Hunter above me in the head. He'd been the only one left standing.

I got to my feet with a groan. I hobbled to the door while his guards coated the place in gasoline.

Deucalion helped me along.

I pulled away. "I'm fine," I gritted my teeth. "And your mind control attempt didn't work, but nice try."

He stared at me in a lack for words before he went to his side of the car.

I lifted myself in with a smug grin to myself. He tried to take control of my mind and it hadn't worked. I was still winning.

The warehouse and the dead Hunters outside and inside were lit a fire, then we were as far from it as possible.

ALLISON'S POV:

As the day dragged on I hadn't gotten much peace of mind since we heard about Malia. A panicky feeling hadn't left me. I could tell the others thought it was worry, but it was panic.

College, up until this past month, had been a place of relaxation in between the studying and reading and stress of school. We didn't have to deal with all of this crap. While I longed for those days back, I liked how our pack was formed now. Whether everyone agreed on it or not, we were one pack. There was no way we'd all get through Deucalion and they'd want to go their separate ways. At least, I hoped not.

Lydia came up to me with a cup of yogurt. "We'll find her, don't worry."

I stared at her. She was gut wrenchingly beautiful in a different way than I considered myself. Almost like a Barbie doll.

"Why aren't you more worried?"

Her forest green eyes met mine. "What makes you say that?"

"You're not freaking out. I would be freaking out. I am freaking out," My breath grew ragged.

She shoved a spoonful of her strawberry yogurt into my mouth. "Take that and calm down. Getting worked up isn't going to help her any. Our worry isn't going to bring her back. We have to stay calm and level headed."

I nodded.

That night was hard to fall asleep. I tossed and turned to get comfortable, did yoga to calm my body and mind, even drank warm milk. None of it worked.

So I downed half a bottle of Zzzquil, then tried to calm my body until it took effect.

My mind took me under.

I knew that I was dreaming on account that I didn't feel like myself.

" _Allison, don't do this."_

 _I turned to a familiar face. "I have to," I said, but it wasn't really me._

" _No, you don't," He said. "How long have we been up here doing what's asked of us?" He rounded a tall, white pillar._

" _Three years."_

 _He nodded. "Three years," He pulled me closer to him, his gray eyes hectic. "You've been looking out for them ever since, but this isn't something you should do." He waited for the other Angels to pass. "This is going against His will." He whispered._

 _My head shook. "What's the point of having these powers if we can't use them for good. He's all alone, Jeff. After what I put him through and Kira leaving, he deserves this. It's not like we don't know they're not on that path already."_

" _You want to help him, make him happy, I get that. I do, but you could get into a lot of trouble for doing this. Even if they're on that path you and I both know that her time's almost up."_

 _I shrugged. "I don't care. If I have anything to say about it I can stop that too."_

" _We can't change events. That's not our job, Allison."_

" _What is our job then? To standby? To do the menial tasks that go down the list of command?" I demanded._

 _He shushed me. "Do you realize that you're speaking blasphemy?"_

 _I shoved him back. "You can't stop, Jeff. I'm doing this. If I we couldn't be happy together then I'm making sure he's happy with her. She's the best fit for him that I've ever seen."_

 _He glanced around then sighed. "Fine, I'll help you." He said even though he didn't look all that enthused. "What's our next move?"_

I turned onto my back.

" _Allison, no!" Jeff chased after me. "You can't do this!"_

 _I ignored him on my way to the edge of the pearly gates that overlooked the clouds. "You've been a good friend, Jeff. Now I need you to not be." I opened them._

 _He snatched me up by my white robe._

 _Left over from my Hunting days, I snapped around and had him flipped on his back in a second flat._

 _He looked up at me with fright in his normally stoic eyes._

 _My eyes took in the few worried passing associates, then I helped him up. "Sorry."_

 _Before he said anything he looked down at the patch of Beacon Hills I'd manifested through the portal in the opening of clouds. "I'm not going to rat you out, but I can't help you when you get caught. And you will get caught. They're going to notice when a dead girl suddenly comes back to life. He'll notice."_

 _Not if I could cover it up long enough. There were workarounds for everything in life, why not this? Why couldn't I help Scott and Malia be happy together? They deserved each other, especially after all the hard work I'd put into speeding up their process._

 _That night I snuck off to limbo with the one person I was most excited to come face to face with._

 _She hadn't registered me yet._

" _Malia?" I called from behind her._

" _God?" She looked up._

 _I laughed at her. While she wasn't quite on the nose she wasn't far off. "Not quite."_

 _She whipped around to face me. "Allison?" She questioned as she openly stared at me._

 _I gave my best smile, then walked toward her. "It's nice to see you again, Malia."_

 _She gaped. "Are you an Angel?"_

 _I pulled her along. "We've got a lot to discuss."_

" _Am I dead? You're dead, so I must be dead if I can see you, right?" She glanced at me. "Sorry."_

 _After I took her through some of her and Scott's best moments she said, "This is beginning to feel like an invasion of privacy."_

 _I waved my hand to pause the scene before us. "Who do you think put the idea in Melissa's head?"_

 _She stilled. "Wait, what? What are you talking about?"_

 _"To talk to Scott about it. She was the one that introduced him to the idea of you two. Try and keep up."_

 _Her hand rested on my arm. "So you're telling me you influenced her to influence him to like me? That's how all of this started?"_

 _Sensing her discomfort, I played with her hair. "The feelings were already there, I just added some oomf to speed up the process. If I hadn't you two would still be bro-ing it out in his bedroom. You're welcome." I gave a smile. "Now look!" I demanded._

 _She turned toward the scene of her and Scott in his bedroom, Malia arrived with Chinese food when he needed it the most._

 _"You still haven't seen Star Wars yet? Even I've seen it and I've been a coyote most of my life."_

 _He smiled as he wheeled the chair over to her on his bed. "I must've forgotten it between the Nogitsune and the Dread Doctors. If I didn't have to save your ass so many times I might've been able to see it by now." He reached for an egg roll._

 _I fast forwarded through them falling onto the floor. "Wait, I like that part." I rewinded. "Look at the both of you happy with each other."_

 _Her eyes rolled. "We just fell lady."_

 _I paused the scene again. "Look!"_

 _She leaned back at my outburst. "Okay, geez."_

 _She didn't know what I was risking do this. All of it was my doing. When the time came, and it would, Jeff was right. I'd pay the price. I didn't care at that moment, I just needed to try because they deserved to be happy and together._

 _Their Graduation moment was one of my favorite._

 _She poked at Scott and he slapped her hands away to her amusement. Then he really looked at her and the cutest look of awe came over his face, a look I remembered all too well. I was beyond happy that he could find someone else to give that look to. Well, she kind of found him first. They found each other really._

 _"You look beautiful as always," He said like it wasn't a surprise. "You always look beautiful."_

 _She grinned back at him as she went to fix his tie. "Well, you look very handsome as always."_

 _I had to show her my death scene so she'd realize how serious this all had been for Scott. When I replayed hers she recognized the similarities._

" _Turn it off," She cried._

 _"I'm in love with you." The dying version of her said into his arms. "I guess I was brave enough to say it to your face after all." A tear trickled down her face._

 _"Come on, don't say that like you're never going to say it again." He begged._

 _"I said turn it off!" She yelled finally. When she turned to me she realized I had teared up too._

 _"That was hard for me to watch, as well." I offered. "I knew that you were going to die soon, but I hadn't imagined it would be like that."_

 _She boiled in injustice. "Wait, you knew I was going to die and you set us up anyway?"_

 _My hands wiped her tears away. "Malia, I told you I simply sped up the process."_

" _Why?" She shook her head as she continued to cry._

 _A morose smile drifted toward my face. "Because I wanted him to be happy. He's happy with you. He loved Kira, but they weren't right for each other. Not in the ways you two are. You grew together. You fought. You protected each other."_

 _She turned from me. "Why'd you show me all of that? Why am I here?"_

 _I went to her side. "You've been given a second chance."_

" _What does that mean?"_

 _I cupped her face. "Well, a choice is more like it. You can come home with me, you can see your mom and sister again. Your dad."_

 _She grew back to life. "I can see my family again?"_

 _I nodded. "Or you can go back. You could be with your pack again. You can be with Scott again."_

 _"When do I have to decide?"_

 _"Within the next few minutes. If you don't then you'll be stuck here forever. It's likely you'd become a vengeful spirit." I wasn't entirely wrong. If she stayed here there was a possibility that would happen, but I wouldn't let that happen._

 _Her eyes that reminded me of mine contemplated her decision. "If I see my family for a bit can I go back?"_

 _My head shook. "Sorry. It's one or the other."_

 _She sagged. "How can you ask me to chose?"_

 _"I'm not asking." I rested my hands on her shoulders. "And you already know the answer."_

 _Her head shook. "I don't."_

 _"You do." I encouraged. "Malia, you died selflessly and you loved fiercely. That doesn't go unrewarded."_

 _"But I've done awful things. I've killed people." Her eyes searched mine for another explanation._

 _My grin was soft. "He's a forgiving God." I was lying through my asshole, but she didn't know that. "He wanted to give you this choice."_

 _She contemplated further. Her family or Scott._

 _I grew tired of her decision-making process and said, "You're going back. Your heart already spoke." It hadn't, but I was making this decision for her. Sure it was selfish, but it wasn't like I'd end up in Hell. If I did, ehh. I was already dead._

 _"What do I do?" She clung to me like I had all the answers._

 _"Whatever makes you happy." I looked up at the sky. "Oh yeah." I gave her a sheepish grin that was totally fake with no one the wiser._

" _What?"_

 _"So I forgot to mention that time passes differently in here." I didn't, I just withheld it._

 _She worked through that in her mind. "Okay. How much differently?"_

 _"About a month. Or three."_

 _"What?!" She laughed hysterically. "Three months? We weren't even in here for three hours. How is that possible? If I've been dead for three months then everything's changed."_

 _I slid the back of my hand down her face, brushing her with harmony. "Relax. You'll figure it out." Then I sent her back._

I kicked the covers off of me, then rolled onto my side. My consciousness took me under again.

 _I was carted out to the cell block for further questioning._

 _Alexia stood before me on the other side of the bars. "I can't believe you of all people did, Allison. We can not ignore it. Your wrongdoings will be righted."_

 _My hands grabbed onto the bars. "Don't take this away from them, Alexia. They're happy, they have children. No one's noticed until recently." My eyes searched hers. "Please, have mercy on them. It was_ my _mistake. Not theirs."_

 _Her green eyes held a modicum of pity. "I wish I could, but there's an order to things here. We can not let your act against God go unpunished."_

 _My head shook, tears stung my eyes. "No. Don't do this."_

" _My hands are tied." She walked off._

" _Alexia, please!" I called after her. "You don't have to do this!" I begged pathetically. "I'm sorry, I'll do whatever you want."_

 _The heavy door shut and locked behind her._

 _I slid to the floor in a sob. This day was inevitable really. I knew that. Yet I did everything Jeff warned me against. Now I was here and I probably would be for the rest of eternity._

 _All I wanted was to give Scott and Malia a happy ending, one that I couldn't have. And it blew up in my face._

 _The door opened a few minutes later._

 _I stood and dried my tears._

 _Jeff came into view with two guards. "You alright?"_

" _Where is she?" I demanded._

" _She's fine. It's you I'm here for."_

 _My eyes stared into his. "How could you turn me in? I know it was you."_

 _He sighed. "They were getting closer to figuring it out, Allie. I was trying to help." He stepped closer. "But that's not what I'm here for."_

 _My trial was happening already?_

" _Not that either." He took a scroll from one of the guards. "You are one lucky girl, Allison Argent."_

" _Huh?"_

 _I didn't feel so lucky._

" _You're punishment won't be to rot in this cell like the Council wanted. You're going with them."_

 _My interest piqued. "Going with who?"_

" _Your old pack. Alexia was tasked with putting them into an Alternate Universe where they didn't know each other. One where they may never know each. One where you're alive."_

 _My eyebrows shot into my scalp. "Come again?"_

 _The other guard unlocked the door._

" _Who sanctioned this?"_

 _He handed me the scroll. "_ He _did."_

 _I opened it and went straight to the bottom where the big guy's signature laid. I blew out a heavy breath. "I'm going to throw up. Do I get a say in this?"_

 _His head shook._

 _This may have looked like a second chance for me that I secretly craved, but it wasn't. This was still very much a punishment._

 _He told me what I already suspected, "You won't remember this life, not until you're supposed to. You won't remember this conversation until you have a mission in front of you that you need give your life for."_

 _My eyes closed at the plan. "To end up right back up here."_

" _I wish there was another way, but this was the best deal I bargained for. And once He signed off on it there wasn't any more discussion about it."_

 _I nodded._

 _We met in the middle for a hug._

" _When do I leave?"_

I shot awake out of bed with a gasp. My eyes looked around the room for a threat when I didn't find one I relaxed. My sheets were wet with sweat so I stripped them, then jumped into the shower.

A creak came from my room.

My head peaked out from the shower curtain to investigate.

It was almost four in the morning. Everyone on my hall was asleep for a suite of boys that always were up late and rowdy, but that was on the other end of the hall.

I was probably paranoid. I needed a Prozac or something strong to knock me out for a good night's sleep. If my dreams were real and they correlated with my other life then I had to really think about all that I found out.

My hands lathered shampoo into my hair twice then I rinsed it out. Once I was done, I pulled the curtain back and had a heart attack.

Stiles sat on my bathroom counter.

"Stiles!" I threw a shampoo bottle at him.

He grinned as he dodged it. "Hey," His honey eyes roamed my naked, wet body. He smirked.

I stepped out of the shower, grabbed the towel to dry off. "What the hell are you doing here? How'd you get in here?"

"You weren't answering your phone," He jumped down to tug the towel away from me with intent in his eyes. "I came in through the window like a modern Romeo to his Juliet."

I let him have the towel to stare at him.

His playfulness fell away. "What happened?"

I didn't know how I was going to process this all or if I was even ready to talk about it. That kind of wasn't something you sprung up in conversation. I wanted to tell him, just not right now.

My head shook. "Just a nightmare." I lathered myself in lotion, then pulled on some underwear.

He came behind me, his hands worked the tension in my shoulders.

My head fell back into him. A small smile on my face. My eyes met his in the mirror.

He watched me intently.

I smirked. "Why don't you take a picture? It'll last longer."

His brow rose. "Oh yeah?" His skilled hands slid down my freshly showered skin while his mouth brushed against my neck, he trailed kisses up and down my neck and shoulder. "Hmm?"

I bit my lip as his hand dipped into my panties, two of his fingers entered me while his thumb grazed my clit.

"Still want me to take a picture, Allie?"

"I, uh-pa, nhnn,"

His laugh against my skin made me want to clock him, but that would take away from the pleasure he gave me. Maybe it was my almost non-existent experience with guys or how I wished for days like this all throughout high school and college, but I was a gusher when it came to him.

"It's amazing how wet you get around me," He said, his gaze into the mirror on mine. "Whenever I touch you like this you cum really fast." He kissed the back of my neck, this brought his lips to my other ear to torture me more. His fingers knew how to work me in the best ways, sometimes beyond words.

My hand went to the back of his head to grab a hold of his hair. The bathroom was filled with my moans as he continued to finger fuck me.

"Stiles," I got out.

Our eyes met in the mirror again.

"You always clench super fucking tight around me when you're about to cum and you always say my name." He grunted.

"Please," I begged. "Fuck me."

The hunger in his eyes said everything as he undid his pants, pulled himself out of his boxers, ripped my underwear off, then shoved into me.

"Ohhh God," My hands propped onto the counter so I could lean forward. He felt so good in me.

His hands grabbed my hips so he could pound into me, the sound of our skin slapping echoed in the bathroom along with our moans.

My finger rubbed at my clit. "That's all you got?" I asked him in the mirror.

His eyes darkened. "You want more?"

I nodded. "Give it to me, Stiles."

That must've been the magic word because his hand wrapped my wet braid and yanked my head back, not violently, just rough enough so that I knew he meant business. His hips smacked into my ass so frequently I thought they'd make a dent.

My eyes closed at the pleasure. "Yes!"

"You like when I fuck you like this, Allie?"

I nodded.

He tugged on my braid. "Answer me."

"Yes, Daddy." I knew that was what he wanted me to say. We'd talked about our kinks and that was a mutual one. I wasn't quite sure why I had a Daddy kink, but it was there.

He slammed into me hard with one of the sexiest groans to ever leave him. "Tell Daddy how much you like it."

"So fucking much, Daddy. Please don't stop. I'm so close." My finger sped up on my clit.

"I know. Go ahead and cum on Daddy's cock when you're ready."

I nodded.

He pulled on my braid again.

"Ahh!"

"What do you say?" He stopped his motions.

Adrenaline ran through my body.

"Thank you, Daddy."

His hips worked his cock back into me slowly at first, then he slammed inside me which made us both cry out.

My walls clenched around his. We both knew I was so close.

He pushed us into the counter. "Cum for me, Allie." His hand moved mine out of the way to ferociously rub my sensitive clit.

"Oh fuck."

His cock slid in and out of me in a less harsh manner, but he was still hitting the right spots.

"Daddy! Daddy fuck me!" I gushed around him.

He shot his load inside of me.

We collapsed onto the counter, spent.

His hot breath warmed my bare skin. "So another shower?"

I looked back at him and laughed. "Yeah,"

We hopped in together.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked.

My hands went to his shoulders to push him down to his knees.

He grabbed my hips and went to work on eating me out.

My head lolled back with a sigh. "Now I am."

After we actually showered and got dressed he admitted, "I came over here for a reason. You distracted me."

I grinned. "Go on."

"There's a slight emergency at Scott's."

I sobered up. "Define slight?"

He looked at me with unsure eyes. "Like apparently Lydia's doppelganger showed up with some girl."

"Come again?"

He pulled me toward the door. "Let's go check it out."

LIAM'S POV:

I was woken up by my phone ringing.

Mason threw a pillow at me. "Dude!"

"Sorry," I grumbled, then answered it on my way out to the lobby at the end of the hall. "Mom, are you okay? It's like three fifty."

"No," She answered. "Who is this?"

I checked the phone, but I knew her voice when I heard it. "Mom, it's me. Liam."

She tsked. "I don't know any Liam's. How'd you get this number, sweetheart?"

I didn't know how to proceed. Was I dreaming?

"Can I speak to dad?"

"Stop calling here." She hung up.

I stared at the phone in utter confusion, then I called back but it went to voicemail. So I called Todd, but he didn't answer either. He might be working a shift at the hospital. His voicemail beeped.

"Hey, I know it's late, but mom just called me acting all weird. Can you call me when you check on her? Love you, bye."

I checked the missed texts from the others.

They wanted me to come over to Scott's for a pack meeting.

Kira sent a new text.

Kira: I'm waiting in the car at the back entrance.

Me: Putting on clothes now will be down in a sec.

My hand twisted the door, but it wouldn't open. Not wanting to risk Mason punching me I walked in shame in nothing but my boxers to the elevator, down the hall, and out the back entrance.

Kira saw me and beeped the horn a few times. "Hot stuff!" She hollered.

I burned red as I rushed to her car. The door was locked. "You bitch."

She winked, then unlocked the door.

I went to open it.

She pulled up a bit.

We repeated this until I groaned out loudly. "Kira!"

Her laughter shook the car.

When I got in my hand punched her boob.

"Don't be a little bitch, Liam." She ruffled my hair. "Now buckle up so I can make sure you get there safely. Don't want Theo to shit a brick."

My hand smacked hers away. I didn't mean to pout, but it happened.

"What happened to you? You look a little more twinkish than usual. Did you get it in the butt?" She drove off.

"Eat a dick," I buckled up anyway because safety first.

"Hard pass." She turned at the light and glanced at me. "So let's hear it. What's wrong?" She drummed her ringed fingers on the steering wheel.

With a huff, I admitted, "My mom called."

"And?"

I shrugged. "She didn't sound like herself. I don't know. I called my dad to check on her. The call was just really weird. She might've been sleepwalking. She had a problem with that a few years ago. She hardly ever left the house, but I don't want to take the chance."

She electrified me.

"Kira," I patted my skin once she stopped. "Why?"

She shot me a cheeky grin. "It got your mind off of your mom for a second, didn't it?"

As odd as she may be some time she was the closest thing I had to a best friend, especially now that I knew the truth about Theo. Lydia was great and so was Allison, but something between Kira and I clicked more than with the others. Maybe it was a gay thing. I don't know. She was just like an older sister I never wanted.

I offered a grin and a nod toward her.

She playfully shoved my shoulder away. "Don't get all weepy on me, Twinky." Before I could defend myself she added, "Theo told me he had you in his phone as that. I like it. It sticks."

My eyes rolled when I leaned back against the headrest. "Whatever,"

She reached into her glove compartment and tossed a bottle of pills into my lap.

I picked it up. It read in bold blue letters, Midol. For menstrual relief. I cut a stiff grin at her.

She seemed pleased with herself the rest of the ride.

SCOTT'S POV:

Everyone else filed into my apartment one by one until they were all here.

Kira and Liam walked in.

Liam headed for my room right away. "I'm borrowing some of your clothes. Don't ask."

Theo looked his direction then went after him.

Kira nodded went to Lydia's side and leaned an arm on her shoulder. "Who's the new girl?" She gestured toward Cora.

Our Lydia came out the bathroom, her hands wiped down her dress.

Kira looked between the two then jumped back. "What the fuck?" She came to stand near me. "What's going on, big guy?" She rubbed at her eyes.

I hung an arm over her shoulders. "That is why we're all here."

"Not right now," Liam dismissed as him and Theo walked out of my bedroom. Liam stopped mid step when he realized there were two Lydia's. "I think I'm having a seizure."

Allison and Stiles were the last to arrive. They stared openly.

Both Lydia's stood next to each other.

"So..." Liam started. "How bout those Mets?"

We all looked at him.

Stiles fist bumped him. "Hell yeah."

"So this Multiverse thing is real? We actually have other versions of us out there?" Allison asked.

"I thought we weren't going to talk about it," Kira said tightly, still freaked out, while she stared back and forth at them.

I stepped forward. "Well, we have to talk about it now. There's another Lydia here." I gestured to her friend in the corner that didn't seem phased by this. "And her friend Cora. We can't ignore it."

They both showered before the others got here. If they hadn't then I think everyone's eyes would be falling out of their heads in curiosity like mine had. I was thankful that Lydia had stayed behind to help with Kylie so she was my witness I wasn't delusional because it honestly felt like it lately.

Allison grabbed Stiles' hand. He pulled her to his side. "Which one of you is ours?"

The one I knew as my friend stepped toward us, her hair a bit darker than the other's. This other version had new bandages over her wounds.

"I'm Cora," She said to us then walked over to my fridge for a drink.

"Yeah, help yourself," I muttered, but it fell on deaf ears.

Stiles leaned down to whisper into Allison's ear then he kissed her.

Lydia's eyes widened at them, her eyes all but glistened in hurt.

They pulled away, then noticed us all staring at them, they looked at her.

Our Lydia watched the scene with guarded eyes.

Cora came back with an opened soda, then folded her arms across her chest with a slight smirk. "This ought to be good."

"What's wrong?" Allison asked.

Lydia wiped at her eyes and gave a dismissive grin to diminish the situation. "No, it's okay."

"How is this possible?" Theo asked.

Kira walked over to our Lydia. "Girl, what is going on?"

She shrugged.

"Where are you from?" Liam asked.

Theo scoffed. "Where do you think?"

"No one asked you," Liam shot back.

Kira looked between them with a huff. "Why are you guys fighting?"

"Is that really important right now?" Stiles asked.

Peter walked in. "Now I'm interested. How did this happen?"

I sighed. "That's it. Everyone shut up and let _this_ Lydia tell us what exactly her earth is like and how she got here."

We all stared at her expectantly with more intrigue than anything.

She nodded, glanced at Cora, then braved a look at us. "To cut a long story short, I'm assuming you just want to know what your other selves are doing."

We all nodded.

She went around the circle. She settled on Kylie first who sat on the couch by herself. "You're dead."

Kylie shrugged. "What else is new?"

I cut her a look.

She straightened up.

Lydia looked at Peter. "You're a dick."

"So nothing's changed?" Stiles chided.

I repressed a laugh.

Peter gave him a tight grin.

Nothing had really changed it seemed like.

Lydia's eyes fell on me. "You and Malia live together."

I looked at the others. "This earth doesn't sound too different."

They agreed verbally and non-verbally.

"Let me rephrase, you and Malia are roommates in the dorm. Stiles lives across the hall."

Stiles and I looked at each other and nodded with grins. We held out our fists to pound.

Lydia gave a soft roll of her eyes until she locked eyes with Stiles, her green orbs grew heavy. "You..."

Stiles looked at her, not really understanding why she was so affected by him.

"You and I..." She trailed off again.

His brows shot up. "We were together there, too?" He grew rigid.

Allison paused on him. "What do you mean 'together there too'?"

Because he didn't have the guts to say it or maybe he did, I didn't want him to be in this awkward spot with three girls - and it was awkward for our Lydia, too - I said, "They were dating in that other life, Allie. Eventually, they got married, had kids."

Stiles looked at our Lydia, unsure of what to say as if the Lydia standing before him wasn't the one he had to answer to. He looked to the new Lydia and asked, "Are we dating in your world?"

She shook her head. "No, but I was trying to figure it out, see if I had something with someone else."

He seemed relieved. "Was there someone else?"

Her eyes momentarily slid to Kira's.

Kira's eyes grew as big as saucers. "Woah." She threw an arm around our Lydia. "I love you, but not like that."

"What about me?" Allison asked. "If you're kind of with Stiles and kind of with Kira then who am I with? Stiles and I never dated?"

The girls locked eyes.

"No," Lydia grew a little cold. "Because you're my best friend and he's my best friend." Her eyes watered a little more. "And you would never do that to me." Her hand brushed her nose. "Besides, you and Scott had a thing."

I didn't look at her. Mostly because I wasn't sure if we were on okay enough terms just yet to joke about this. Maybe later.

"Had a thing? So we're not together anymore?"

She shook her head. "Not even a little bit. Last I noticed, you and Isaac were getting closer. You know, in that way."

Allison took that in.

Theo stepped forward. "What about me and Liam?"

Liam cut him a look.

Lydia couldn't help her grin. "You're kind of together, but it's complicated."

Liam's eyes grew wary. "How so?"

"You're not really out of the closet there," She sounded sad to tell him. "And Theo very much is so it's kind of hard for you guys there. I'm not caught up on what's going on with them, but it looks promising." She gave them a reassuring nod with a grin.

Kira grinned cheekily. "What about me?"

Lydia fought her smile, but it won out. "Your hair's different."

"How?" Her brow arched.

"You dyed it pastel purple on the ends."

Kira made a not so convinced face. "I hate purple."

Lydia laughed. "Well, it suits you."

Kira nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Okay, now that we got that out of the way, what exactly is going on in your world? How'd you end up here?"

She looked at Cora and sighed. "Do you want to pipe in at any time?"

"Nope, I think you got it." She gave a wink.

Lydia rolled her eyes. She blew out a heavy breath. "Okay, it's like this. We just got to college, it wasn't supposed to be like this. It was our time to start fresh. We were going to immerse ourselves into it. Then these psychos started kidnapping random girls only they weren't random. All of us were supernatural."

"All of you?" Allison asked. "They took you both?"

Lydia nodded. "They tortured us."

Cora cleared her throat. "They're selling us on the black market for our parts and powers." She sat next to Kylie. "We're family by the way."

Kylie held out a hand.

Cora took it.

Lydia cleared her throat. "We escaped and-" She paused. "You're related to Kylie?"

Cora shook her head. "Not directly. Malia is Peter's daughter, making us cousins."

A brief moment of surprised crossed Lydia's face.

"Correction," Cora started again. "Lydia escaped with some Jane Bond skills she had stored away, then gouged out the creep's eyes because he did things to us." She smiled at her friend and held out her wrist with a healed brand on it. "Then she branded him on his balls."

All us guys clenched.

Peter sighed. "I see rape is an ongoing theme in both worlds."

The two girls stilled.

"What does that mean?" Cora asked.

We all looked to our Lydia and Kira.

"Deucalion has that fetish." Kira supplied. "He has Malia with him right now."

Lydia and Cora shared a look.

"Deucalion was awful when he blew into town when we were in high school," Cora said. "He was never that bad."

"Well," Our Lydia spoke up. "He is on our Earth."

"What am I like over there?" Kira asked her.

She stared at her, trying not to do what I had done a thousand times with Malia, trying to separate her from the person in my mind. "You're lonely."

Kira's playfulness went away as she sighed. "So I'm just a bitter old witch, huh?"

Lydia gave a kind smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Not all the time."

"How did you get over here?" I asked the question we all wanted to know.

She shared a look with Cora. "We're not sure."

"We ran through this breach. Anywhere was better than where we were. Now we're here." She handed Lydia her drink.

Lydia downed some of it, then handed it back. "We have to go back. That much is obvious."

"They don't know you're over here I'm assuming," Stiles voiced. "Or that you're okay. How long have you been kidnapped?"

"Almost two days, not nearly as long as Cora."

We all looked over at her.

She turned tense. "I'm not talking about it."

Even though we had a major problem of our own, we still had no viable options or a concrete plan that would get Malia home. Maybe some time away from this world would help. Of course, I wasn't keen on leaving her there, but she was far more capable than I gave her credit for.

I looked at my friends to gauge their emotions. Once satisfied, I turned to Lydia and Cora. "Want some extra help?"

She stared at us. "Seriously?"

"I'm down," Kylie jumped up.

"You're not coming," Stiles and I said together. We glanced at each other.

She grimaced at us.

"No Earth-traveling for Hannah Baker." Peter gave a stern look. "You'll stay here with me where I can keep an eye on you."

Her eyes went to the ceiling while she folded her arms across her chest. "This isn't fair."

Kira laughed at her, a little too hard. "When do we leave? I've never been to another Earth before. Have you guys?" She asked, obviously throwing it in Kylie's face.

I shook my head at her but held a tiny grin on my lips. "Is everyone good for now? We'll go a day tops to get back here and deal with Deucalion."

They all mulled it over but gave a collective nod.

"Who's got the snacks?" Liam asked.

"I just need to change first." Allison pointed out.

Stiles gestured to her pajamas. "What's wrong with what you have on?"

She gave him a deadpan look.

"You don't need snacks," Theo told Liam. "Coach will notice you're lagging behind come Monday." Theo chimed in.

Liam gave him the finger.

Theo pursed his lips, then scratched the back of his head. "I deserved that."

"We're going to from one Earth to another. You can eat when we get there." Kira hung an arm over our Liam's shoulders. "We're going to see ourselves be lesbians, Lyds. I'm excited."

She shook her head. "I can't wait to see your hair."

Lydia and Cora came to me. "Are you sure about this?" Lydia asked.

I nodded. "We're ready."

Allison cleared her throat. "Not all of us."

Kira dangled her car keys. "I'll take her back to her dorm," She looked at Liam. "You want to change too?"

"Yes, please." He sighed in relief.

My clothes did look ridiculous on him. We were totally different builds and heights. That would be like Mason wearing Theo's clothes.

Once we were all ready Peter ordered us an Uber XL while he took Kylie to Malia's new apartment. He pulled me along. "Be careful over there."

I nodded.

It was odd feeling like Peter actually cared when I know he didn't. He cared about getting his daughter back and her being happy. I was one of his props in her life. That was it.

We boarded the Uber when it came. The driver dropped us off at the closest restaurant a mile from where the girls claimed they arrived from. We walked the rest of the way until we came up on the _Now Leaving Martinsville, California_ sign.

"You guys are seeing this right?" Theo asked.

The rest of us nodded except for Allison and Stiles.

"That's going to be a no for us," He supplied.

"If anyone wants to go home now's the chance," I surveyed them all.

No one backed down.

I looked at Lydia and Cora. "Lead the way,"

They walked through the breach first.

Liam leaped through.

"That wasn't twinkish at all." Theo followed.

Kira laughed after them.

Our Lydia looked back at Allison and Stiles. She held her hand open for Stiles.

He took it.

Allison took my hand.

"Woah," They said together, now able to see the breach by Supernatural contact.

Stiles and Allison joined hands.

"Let's do this," We walked in through it together.

A/N: LOL so if you're confused like why are they all so cool with leaving their world and Malia behind to help the others...I've got nothing for ya. If you don't like Scott's explanation then I tried and honestly, I just wanted this crossover to happen. If that's not your cup of tea sorry bout it, Chow! Don't know how I feel about Malia being part snake now. I might go back and change that if yall tell me you don't like it. Ehh I'm tired leave me alone.

AND IF IT'S NOT OBVIOUS AT THIS POINT I'M DOING A CROSSOVER WITH ETHEREALMINDSS FIC "SMOKE AND MIRRORS". I'm still getting reactions from people that don't know about this. This is why I repeat myself so much. GO READ HER DAMN FIC IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY XD.


	17. notice

Alright, I already got one no for the Malia snake bit so I'm just gonna rewrite that bit haha. I'm not rewriting the whole chapter. If you don't like it then sorry. You can stop reading if need be. I've been telling yall the collab was going to happen for a few chapters now. If you actually read that is up to you.

Just curious does anybody read the announcements? Someone just messaged me and said they didn't know Whenever You're Ready and Til Forever Runs Out were connected so...How is that possible? It even says it is in the description for the fic and how the last chapter of the first ended with the first chapter of this...ANYWAY. Yeah, please keep telling me when you don't like stuff so I know where you're coming from. I did write the majority of last chapter in one day so I was super tired and I had a headache all day. I wasn't feeling the snake bit either so I'll change that haha. I did say let me know if you don't like it and I'll change it

I get why you wouldn't like them all going to help the others with Malia with Deucalion BUT THEY LITERALLY HAVE NO WAY OF FINDING THEM AT THIS POINT AND THEY CAN HELP OTHERS THAT NEED IT. Do you really think Malia can't take care of herself for a bit? Or that Scott would turn his back on other people THAT ARE BASICALLY THEM?

Also I know that you don't know what I have planned in my head for the chapters coming, but THEY'RE NOT GOING TO GET MALIA UNTIL A FEW CHAPTERS. Them going to the other Earth didn't affect how fast they're going to get Malia. So take a breath and chill. This happened last time around. People got antsy and didn't know where things were going. Either express your concerns in detail so I know where its coming from, give me a solution, and talk to me about it or stop reading if you don't like it. I'm not begging you to keep reading if it's not your cup of tea.

I specifically tailored this story to a reader from Whenever You're Ready so that it would have more action and they'd use their powers more. When I asked that reader how they were liking it they said they didn't like how WYR ended (which I understand but also no one was leaving feedback those last few chapters so I did whatever I wanted) and didn't like how this started. So I'm done catering to individuals that don't give consistent feedback.


	18. Chapter 18

Hey yall this is just a notice I'm posting on all of my current fics: I do have literally several fics I'm working on so if the one this is posted on isn't updated as fast as you'd like keep that in mind. I try to update the fic that gets the most reviews and in the order I posted them. I also have about five other new Scalia fics that I plan on posting once some of these are done or close to being done. I HAVE 12 SCALIA FICS IF YOU'RE HURTING FOR MORE SCALIA.

Also remember that not reviewing doesn't help speed up the update time and writing "when are you updating" or "update soon pls" isn't a review at all. It's a comment. Being brutually honest about this, most writers look at those comments and roll their eyes because they thought it was something to get excited over. If that hurts your feelings, then I'm sorry. It's not meant to. It's meant to open your eyes about how things are on our end. What's the thing most writers ask for at the end of their chapters? Reviews, right?

I've said this numerous times in the annoucements at the end of most chapters in different fics, I CAN'T REPLY TO YOUR COMMENT OR REVIEW IF YOU'RE LEAVING IT AS A GUEST. SO MULTIPLE PEOPLE ASKING WHEN I'M UPDATING IS ONLY GOING TO RESULT IN A POST LIKE THIS WHERE IT'S NOT AN ACTUAL CHAPTER AND YOU GET UPSET THAT IT'S NOT AN ACTUAL CHAPTER. ASK ME ON MY SOCIAL MEDIA WHEN I'M UPDATING. THAT'S THE BEST WAY TO GET AN ANSWER OR DM ME ON HERE. MY TWITTER IS StavosBrooke my tumblr is brostavorunsmylifenowareyouhappy and my insta is coach_deniqua I want to be able to reach out to everyone that leaves a comment or review but I can't if you're logged in as a guest. If you don't want to make an account then I'd love if you left your tumblr name or twitter so we could chat. :)

I do have to work. I do have other things going on in my life. I love writing, it's what I want to do, don't get me wrong. However, on days where I'm working on one chapter for a few days straight and there's little feedback I get disheartened. When I put out three fics in three days back to back two weeks ago with little reviews I got disheartened. Not everyone's going to review. I get that. BUT YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO SEE THAT PEOPLE HAVE READ SOMETHING YOU'VE SPENT HOURS AND DAYS ON WHEN YOU COULD'VE BEEN DOING SOMETHING ELSE AND THEY HAVEN'T GIVEN FEEDBACK. THAT REALLY HURTS. I get consistent feedback from a handful of people, thanks to yall I keep writing but more often than not I feel like watching Netflix or going out with friends or reading something else or writing my own books. I had four days off this week and three of those days I planned on updating three fics but I didn't because I felt like if they're not reviewing then I'm going to chill instead of write from literally 8am to 11pm or later on a chapter. I also don't like to write fanfiction when I'm upset about lack of reviews because it puts me in a bad frame of mind. It'll wear off in a day or so lol.

If it's not me, just show some love to the comment section of some fanfiction writers story. I've been doing this for a few years now on this site and I made the mistake of making an angry post on my Bellarke fic about lack or reviews. I learned my lesson on that one yall it wasn't pretty. I got those reviews but not the kind I wanted XD. My point is, I'm not trying to be a nazi about reviews BUT THEY'RE IMPORTANT. IF YOU DON'T LEAVE THEM THEN YOU'RE PART OF THE REASON IT'S TAKING SO LONG TO UPDATE POINT BLANK PERIOD. YOU DON'T HAVE TO LIKE THAT TRUTH BUT IT's A TRUTH. ASK ANY OTHER FANFICTION WRITER AND THEY'LL SAY THE SAME THING.

Also, this isn't meant to be an angry shaking my fist post. It's about lack of reviews sure. It's also about properly reaching out to everyone that takes the time to leave a comment or review. It's about miscommunication. It's MAINLY about me telling you that I'll get to every fic this was posted in eventually, just not as soon as some of yall hoped. I've got a lot of fics going on outside of my actual life. My main priority right now is Til Forever Runs Out. Not sure when I'll get to the others because I'm getting a second job again. Go check out JCarabaguiaz's fic, show them some love. She came to me with how rude this came off and that's not it's meant to be. If you have questions or concerns you know how to reach out to me. this post isn't to yell at yall. THIS IS LITERALLY THE ONLY WAY I CAN TELL EVERYONE I'LL UPDATE WHEN I CAN because I know not all of yall follow my social medias so it would be pointless to make a post on them about updating. And like I said, I can't respond to guests comments or reviews so this is how I'll notify people when they keep asking. Not in a long winded rant like this haha just in a mass post to all the current fanfictions that the updates are coming just be patient.

Thanks for your attention.

ALSO IF YOU'VE NOT STARTED ETHEREALMINDSS SCALIA FIC "SMOKE AND MIRRORS" WE ARE DOING A FEW CROSSOVER CHAPTERS WITH OUR SCALIA FICS. MY CHARACTERS WILL BE IN HER WORLD IN HER NEXT CHAPTER. DON'T LOOK AT ME LIKE I'M DUMB FOR KEEP REPEATING MYSELF CUZ I STILL GET PEOPLE SAYING THEY DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT AND I'VE BEEN LOUD CAPPING THIS FOR A LITTLE OVER A MONTH NOW IN THE ANNOUCEMENTS.


	19. When It Comes To Us

The song for this chapter Frances - When It Comes To Us

MALIA'S POV:

My fist battered into the punching bag in the corner of my room for what felt like hours. So I was part snake now on top of being part werewolf and coyote? What the hell did that make me? What did Theo call it? A Chimera. Every so often my skin would erupt in scales. I only deduced that they were triggered by my anger. That's the only thing I've felt that could trigger them so far.

I hadn't stopped feeling heightened emotions since the serum was injected a few hours ago. The emotion that took claim of me since wasn't just fury but violence. I wanted to hurt something. I wanted to hurt someone. Namely Deucalion, but I had a proposition for him that I thought might work out for everybody.

Several minutes later, Deucalion opened the door with a guard in tow.

"What?" I wiped the sweat from my forehead. "Want me to kill someone else for you?"

He nodded toward the hall. "Depends on how Isaac cooperates."

I followed after him.

I'd forgotten about Isaac. He was forgettable at the moment. Especially because I hadn't had one conversation with him.

"Do you really have Camden here?"

He looked at me. "Does it matter?"

"Well, where is he? I haven't seen him."

"There's a lot of things here you haven't seen." He walked ahead of me to show his dominance.

My eyes rolled.

"I'll make this easy on you, Isaac." He started. "If you join me I'll give you more power than you could ever dream of. I'll give Camden that same power and you two can be together again. If you so choose otherwise then I have no choice but to kill you painfully slow and still have Camden under my wing." He took out a watch from his pocket and tossed it on the table. "You have until ten tonight to decide." He headed for the door.

"Wait, that's it?" I sped up after him.

"Sometimes one contemplating one's death is more satisfying than inflicting pain." He looked at me. "I've got a treat for you," He said like it would actually make me happy.

"What?"

He huffed. "You know, your attitude could use a face lift."

"So could your face," I dared him to come at me.

He didn't surprisingly. His brow lifted. "Is that the best you could come up with?"

My eyes turned to snake slits. "What do you want?"

"We're going back to my house. We'll sleep there now." His arms folded across his massive chest. "I would say pack a bag but you don't have any," He threw a dug at me. "We're leaving in five."

I literally had nothing to pack so I went and sat outside in the waiting SUV.

The driver didn't acknowledge my presence like usual.

"Where is everyone else?" I asked.

He didn't answer.

I cleared my throat obnoxiously. "Um, hello?"

He turned on the radio.

Rude ass.

I crossed my legs but knocked my knee hard into the back of his seat so he jolted forward, then I turned my attention out to the trees.

Where were my friends? Would it hurt worse if they weren't looking for me or that they were only to get hurt?

A wave of nausea hit me, so I cracked the window.

Deucalion joined us not too long after.

The ride over was about an hour by the time on the clock on the dashboard. Before us sat a dim-litted beige Victorian like house in the middle of the woods. My nausea spiked at the sight of it. Another one of his men opened the black iron gate for our entry.

My mouth indeed dropped open at the beauty of it.

He looked back at me and grinned. "You like?"

The car rode through the gate and suddenly I felt frazzled. I looked back at the road behind us and I couldn't recall how we got here at all, what we passed, what signs were alongside the road.

Braeden stepped out onto the porch.

Ahh. Must be some witchy mumbo jumbo she threw at me.

I stumbled out of the car and headed for her. "What did you do to me?"

She smirked at me and my head felt like it was splitting.

I sank to my knees on the porch, my hands went to my head to try and lessen the pain but it didn't do any good.

"Braeden, ease up will you?" Deucalion neared us with a bag.

Murder sang in my eyes as I glared up at her. I could read her heat signatures in a way that I never could as a werecoyote.

My hand slashed out for her calf, but claws retreated with a yellow like slime.

She stilled, her brown eyes widened, then screamed out. "It burns."

Deucalion caught her as she fell. He looked at me with impressed eyes.

My eyes slid to my hands. What had I done? Remorse filled me.

He rushed her inside where the house opened up much more. The large white staircase greeted us, tall white walls, and black and gray furniture everywhere. Dark hardwood floors spread across the floor under our feet.

One guard followed us in while the other stayed outside to keep watch.

Deucalion carried her to the big granite top island in the kitchen.

A light sweat broke out onto her mocha skin. Her eyes scrunched in pain. She gritted her teeth when I neared. "Stay back."

And here I was kind of feeling sorry for her.

My arms folded across my chest. "You brought this on yourself."

Deucalion cut the jean away with a knife then examined the infected are. He didn't hesitate in sucking out the poison. Or I guess it was venom. My venom.

Braeden stopped screaming to mutter what sounded like Latin under her breath.

He spat out the venom in the sink and went to gurgle his mouth.

She met my eyes warily.

I walked the distance to look down over her, my hands rested on the edge of the island by her head. "I don't know what you've got worked out with Deucalion or what your relationship was with my sister, but I don't like you." I lowered my face so it was close to hers to make sure her eyes understood mine. My breath fanned across her face. "So if you ever try something like that with my head again there's more of where that came from," I promised.

She shoved me away from her. "You have to be a fool to threaten a witch." She sat up with a wince.

My brow arched. "And you'd have to be an idiot to attack me again," I smirked and I reveled in the fact that it only irritated her more.

We stared at each other with daring eyes.

I couldn't tell what her deal was. Why she helped Deucalion or why'd she didn't do anything for Kylie in the way of getting her out of this mess? What did he have on her? Had he manipulated her too?

She could see that I tried to figure her out and lowered her gaze. "I'd offer to show you the place, but I've got work to do." She rushed off in the other direction.

I walked back toward the door, unsure of where to put myself.

Deucalion returned from another entrance. "Your powers are revealing themselves."

My head shook. "I didn't ask for this."

He faced me. "True power finds you, it doesn't ask you first if it's okay to vacant you."

My mind worked to Scott. He held true power. What Deucalion was forcing on others was a watered down quick fix. It didn't mean he held real power. He just made others afraid of him enough to do his dirty work.

"You'll thank me one day." He motioned for the stairs. "Let me show you your room."

The stairs suddenly looked miles long. Anxiety swelled in me. I was back to being a little kid again. I was back to being used as Deucalion pleased.

He walked up the stairs like it didn't cause him the same dread that it did in me. And I supposed it didn't.

"You coming?" He glanced back.

My head shook. "No." My voice fell short of bravery.

He stopped where he stood. "What do you mean no?"

"No," I said again, this time with more demand to be heard. "I'm not staying here. I'm not living anywhere with you. How could you possibly think I'd feel safe under the same roof as you ever again? I'd take the jail cell over this any day."

He walked down to meet me. "You'll stay here and you'll like it."

"And if I don't?" I opposed him.

"I can make a visit to Henry real quick." He gestured for me to pass him. "Your choice."

But he wasn't really giving me a choice. He knew that.

So I marched up the stairs with an ever present attitude.

There were a number of rooms down each hallway.

"It's over here." He veered to the left. "It's already done up. Nothing special. If you want to add to it say the word." He opened the door to reveal a queen sized bed surrounded by another pure white room filled with white furniture. "I'm sure you'll want to shower. You have your own bathroom. Clothes are in the closet. Dinner will be ready shortly." He closed the doors behind him.

I stood in the middle of the floor like a statue. I felt like a doll in a dollhouse already. My low-cut shirt seemed to choke me regardless. I ripped it off and readied the shower. I turned it up all the way up. The bathroom filled with steam quickly. My skin burned under the water's hate.

This was my life now. I had to accept that. I had this new power that controlled me thus far and I was angry. I was so angry.

Violence flooded my veins. My claws lashed out at the shower walls until they were sufficiently scratched.

I shut the shower off, patted my wet feet across the hardwood floors hoping they'd stain, went to the closet for an outfit. Any outfit.

Hair wet and my temper on a high, I headed for the kitchen where the smell of meat and vegetable cooked in a roaster. Admittedly, it smelled great.

He turned at my arrival. He placed a pitcher of lemonade on the kitchen table that was already set with white china and silverware.

"What was in that serum, Deucalion? Why can't I control myself?"

"Telling you the ingredients would go over your head." He checked on the roast. "While I thought it would make you more susceptible to suggestion it made you not able to control yourself." He faced me. "Yet."

"Do you know what I am?" I demanded. "Because I don't! Not anymore."

He didn't seem phased by my raised voice. "And you think you're the only this has happened to? You see the Serum makes you what it wants you to be. You learn to control your gifts and you learn to love who you've become, what you can do. Theo did."

My head shook. "Theo was manipulated into loving what he became and at the end of the day, he doesn't want any part of your pack anymore. He's like a son to you, so what should that tell you?"

His head tilted to inspect me. "Do you think Theo would've made it another day on the streets if I hadn't come along to save him? Blind, malnourished, and bruised. He needed a family, which I gave him."

"No, he needed someone to truly care about him. And you ruined that for him."

He chuckled. "You're talking about Liam Dunbar?" He turned back to the oven to take out a dish of sweet potatoes. "Do you really think he'll forgive Theo for everything he's done? He's a good kid, fresh faced and brand new. He's of no use to me. When you all join me Theo will want to stay, trust me on that."

He was so wrong.

My stomach growled.

"There's a boundary line around the perimeter. It extends to the back of the house almost two miles. The boundary is marked so you should see it."

"Why are you telling me this?"

He threw a drying cloth over his shoulder as Braeden entered and sat at the table set for two. "Because if you go outside of the boundary then you won't remember how to get back to the house."

My eyes landed on Braeden. "Your doing?"

She flicked out the dinner linen and placed it on her lap. "There's all sorts of fool proof wards around the house. No tracking whatsoever."

My mind worked over the information.

"So I can leave and not know how to get back?"

She nodded.

"Yes, my dear. You will be hunting for your dinner tonight." He met my gaze. "And every other night until I say otherwise."

This was all a part of his plan. He wanted me bloodthirsty for him. He gave me a two-mile leash while knowing I'd return. I had to learn how to control these new powers. I had to protect everyone.

"Hurry back for dessert," He grinned.

Braeden poured herself a tall glass of lemonade, pleased with the turn of events for me.

I stalked out the front door and around the back with the hunger in my stomach propelling me through the dank darkness of woods. I tried to turn into the coyote, but my body wouldn't let me. It was all out of whack.

All I had left were my bare hands.

I did what Apex predators did. I hunted for the kill, to survive.

A few smaller animals passed nearby, but they wouldn't do.

My eyes went picked up body heat signals of a larger animal. An elk. I'd have to do because I was a mile and three-quarters out from the house. A quarter of a mile more and I'd be stuck out there until someone found me wandering around trying to get back in.

I charged forward with a preciseness I hadn't felt since I turned into the coyote.

The elk leaped away with my approach.

My feet pushed off a nearby tree to give me the necessary momentum to tackle it to the ground of the forest. My claws tore into the soft flesh, I quickly snapped its neck so it wouldn't feel this pain. I started to gut the stomach but stopped when I came across an unborn baby.

I staggered back in horror.

The animal wouldn't be born now because of me.

My eyes watered in disgust.

As much as I wanted to grieve this stillborn I had to protect my own.

I took the time to bury the would-be baby, then carried the dead body on my shoulders back to the house.

Deucalion and Braeden's laughter and chatter were interrupted when I busted through the back door, dragged the bloody mess through the halls and slammed it down onto the island.

They looked at me in disbelief that I actually brought it back to the house as if I was supposed to eat it raw like a savage in the woods.

"She was pregnant by the way," My hands stuffed inside of her belly to pull out the remaining organs and bones. I looked Deucalion straight in the eyes. "I would've brought the fetus for you to rape had I thought about it when I buried it. Silly me." I looked for a pan, threw it on the stove and slapped some meat on it, then twisted the white nob for the flames to come alive. With a breath released, I turned back to them with a wipe of my forehead. "That," I gestured toward the carcass on the island. "That's what you wanted right?"

They glanced at each other.

He nodded for her to leave the room.

She gave me a look of sympathy before her exit.

Deucalion faced me. "You have a flair for the dramatic, don't you?"

"Where do you think I get that from?" My red stained hand ran through my hair.

He took off the pan of whatever organ cooked on the stove and dumped it in the trash. "I wanted you to test your powers. Learn control of them. Make them work with your existing abilities. Not bring this beast into my home!"

"Screw you," I seethed. "What did you put in me?"

Secrecy danced behind his eyes. "Does it really matter? You already know your part snake, isn't that enough?" He stepped toward me. "From what I can tell you like that power or is this about your love lorn Alpha?"

I pointed to my chest. "Scott was a good person and I messed him up."

"No," He pointed at me. "You brought him to life. Before you, he was a miserable bloke. Now he's on the path that I want him on."

"What path is that? To kill you?" A little bit of joy seeped into my voice.

We circled each other.

He looked amused. "Kill me? He won't do that. When I make him my offer he'll want to stand by my side and rule as you will. Your friends will follow eventually."

My head shook. "Scott would never do that."

"You don't know him as well as you think."

He knew where my dad was. He knew where Peter and Kylie, and everyone was because he was always ten thousand steps ahead of us. Because he had _years_ to plan for this, to twiddle his fingers while he played puppet master over our lives. He might want us to all join him but he got off on our pain as well.

My hands smashed into the wood table, it split in half down the middle.

"Why?" I asked him head on. "Why'd you do this to us? What did you want from us?" My eyes burned with hate and pain and and and suffering. "Our innocence? Our self-love? Did-Did it feel good as you fucked us into insanity?!" I threw half the table out of the window. The other half was going at him.

He grabbed my hands to stop me, his cold eyes stared right at me. "If I gave you a reason it wouldn't matter.

I shoved him back. "Then why'd you touch us?" Scales spotted up my arm. "Why'd you do things to us? We were kids..." I drifted off in with my chest huffing and tears forming. "You _ruined_ us!" I pointed at him. "You ruined me." My chin trembled. "And you ruined my baby sister," My voice cracked. "And that girl you're carting around with you." My eyes narrowed into slits, I saw his heat signatures. "Why did you rape us?!"

He stared at me unflinchingly. "Because it was fun," He moved closer. His face changed into the gray predator that I witnessed when I tried to kill him. "Because I could." His eyes shined a menacing red. "Because I still can." His hand snatched out to wrap around my throat, then he tossed me through the entryway into the living room.

The wind knocked out of my as my chest hit the floor.

"You'd do well not to question me, Malia,"

Him saying my name made my skin crawl. I wanted to claw it off.

Instead, I got to my feet to growl at him.

"This is my house!" Thunder boomed as he yelled, his mouth seemed to stretch with his tyranny. "You will respect me, girl!"

I hated that in that moment I had to think about everyone that I cared about, I had to think about what I sacrificed to protect them. I hated that in that moment I was admittedly afraid of him. I hated that I submitted to him. I hated myself.

"Now get up so we can go take care of Lahey,"

An hour or so later we ended up back at the warehouse. Things went on as usual without us there. Men took stock of the weapons. Their own little fight club took place in the basement.

"What about all those people you had locked up? Where are they?" I followed him toward the interrogation room.

"Where they need to be,"

I huffed. "When are you going to start letting me in?"

He stopped to turn toward me. "When you give me a reason not to." He continued down the hall.

Fair enough.

We entered the room, immediately attacked by the stench of Isaac's urine, sweat, and body odor.

Isaac could barely look up from exhaustion, dehydration, and malnourishment. "Killing me already?" His gaze fell on me.

He thought I was doing that? No. No way.

Deucalion reached into his hip holster and handed me a buck knife. "You do this and I'll grant your wish."

"What wish?"

He waved the knife around. "The one where you ask me to leave your friends and family alone if you become loyal to me," He pointed at my face with the knife. "It's all in your eyes, I can tell you wanted to ask." He handed me the nonbusiness end of the knife. "A deal's a deal."

My hand wrapped around the handle, my eyes shifted to Isaac's.

Deucalion patted my back. "I'll be at the house when you finish up. Make sure you take your time." He walked away.

I stood in front of Isaac, the weight of metal and brass abundant in my hand that already had so much blood on it. I could kill him and the weight of everyone I cared about would be lifted off my shoulders.

My feet stepped toward him.

His greenish blue eyes locked on mine. They were tired like mine was. "Do it,"

"Huh?"

He leaned forward as much as he could from the restraints. "Kill me," His greasy hair was matted to his head and stuck to the crusted blood at his temple. He shook from cold sweats. "Please."

The handle felt hot in my hand.

"Why couldn't you just give him what he wanted?" I demanded, feeling cornered.

"Because I'm not a coward. Camden would never want me to do Deucalion's dirty work just to save him."

My head shook. "Maybe not, but he's your brother."

"Yeah, a brother that fought for this country. He wouldn't betray his beliefs to save something not worth fighting for."

Did he think he wasn't worth fighting for?

He slapped his hand down on the table. "Just do it before he changes his mind," Spit gathered at his mouth as he begged. "You have to," His eyes urged mine.

Isaac and Camden must have a strained relationship because I would never risk Kylie's life for a sense of nobleness.

So I moved forward with the knife wielded. Even though it pained me to do so I sliced into his chest. Then again. And again until I felt better about it. But I didn't feel better about it.

He laid back in the chair, he gasped for air as he bled.

"I'm sorry,"

Our eyes locked.

"It's okay," He croaked. He spat up some blood. "It's okay."

My mind tingled familiarly as it reached for the appropriate memories.

 _We were outside of some building I didn't recognize._

 _Those freaky Oni were slicing at Isaac. He fell to his knees, a look of acceptance on his sweaty face. He was about to die._

 _"No!" I tried to intervene._

 _Allison pulled me back. "Just watch." She gave me a reassuring look. "He'll be okay."_

 _I watched as the Allison in the scene drew her last arrow and shot it into the Oni. They soon disappeared, but there was one left. One that drove his sword into her stomach. I could hear Lydia's scream from nearby._

 _My hand went to my mouth in horror. This was her death._

 _"Why are we watching this?"_

 _Scott rushed out before she answered. He caught her before she fell to the ground, he cradled her in his lap. "Allison?"_

 _Her bloody hand went to her stomach. "Did you find her? Is Lydia safe?"_

 _"Yeah, she's okay." He brushed her hair out of her face._

 _He tried to take her pain away, but she didn't have any. She was dying._

 _"No,"_

 _"It's okay," She told him._

 _"Allison,"_

 _She nodded. "It's okay." She repeated as if she could convince him it was._

 _His face contorted in pain._

 _"It's perfect. I'm in the arms of my first love." She groaned. "The first person I've ever loved. The person I'll always love."_

 _He looked down at her with adoring eyes._

 _"I love-I love you. Sc-Scott McCall." She touched his face with the strength she had left._

 _He cried. "Allison, please don't." He begged. "Allison, please."_

 _She felt she was close to death and managed to get out, "You have to tell my dad. You have to tell my dad. Tell him," She nodded. "Tell him that..." She struggled to get out, then she passed away in his arms._

 _He cried._

My mind released me.

I stared at Isaac, my shaky hand opened around the stinging touch of the knife. It clanked against the cement floor.

When Scott and I were in my cave in what felt like so long ago we figured out that she died. We hadn't talked about it. It was unspoken. I just witnessed her death as she showed it to me as an Angel. She was an Angel! And she died telling Scott that 'It's okay'. She died protecting Isaac.

His head shook. "Please. Just do it. Anything is better than here."

Would I be where Isaac was down the line? Begging for my life to end?

"No, I can't."

He looked on the brink of tears. "You have to or he will and he'll make it hurt."

I could tell that Deucalion was long gone and his men were distracted by the fight club growing louder and more vicious a level below.

I quickly moved to yank on his chains. "I'm not going to kill you because you're going to run," I whispered in his ear.

"I can't," He whispered back. "I'm too weak."

The chains fell.

He tried to stand but toppled into me.

I held him up, then headed for the exit. "Don't say a word," I instructed.

He tapped my shoulder and pointed toward the floor below. "The others," He mouthed, referring to the other hostages downstairs that were more science experiments than hostages.

My head shook.

Helping them escape would be ideal but I couldn't unleash powered homeless people onto the world. They were much in the same state as Isaac. What would they do if let loose? Besides, there was a swarm of armed men between us getting to them. We could make it out the front exit probably okay if we hurried.

We reached the stairs, which was a bit of a problem being that Isaac could barely walk.

Halfway up the staircase the door below opened. Someone walked around for a bit.

Isaac and I looked at each other in worry, our hearts pounded heavily.

The guy farted, then the door opened and closed again.

We relaxed.

The cost was almost clear when we got to the top level. There were three men playing a card game as they sat on crates of weapons.

I sighed.

This could only go over so well.

An idea came to me in the knick of time.

"Wait here," I mouthed as I tucked him into a dark corner. "I'll distract them so you can run out the front entrance."

He looked wary of the plan but nodded regardless. He held his sides.

While he didn't look like he could run half way across the room it was the best plan we had.

I dashed out to the guards, feigning out of breath. "One of them escaped."

They took me in and stood abruptly.

"Who escaped?" One asked.

"One of the Chimeras in the basement. I was interrogating Lahey when I heard something fly up the steps. I almost missed it." I planted my hands on my knees to catch my breath. "The pissing contest downstairs made it easy for them to get away. They couldn't have gotten past us."

"They have to still be in the building." Another guard suggested before he ran toward the stairs.

Another followed him while the last stayed behind.

We looked at each other.

His eyes narrowed.

I waited until they were far enough to reach for him.

He was fast enough to go for his gun, but not fast enough for me to stand by and get shot.

I grabbed the gun from him and bashed the butt of the gun into his head until he was knocked out.

"Isaac," I whispered.

He limped out of hiding, but not fast enough.

So I picked him up and carried him in my arms. I took off down the road so fast you could've called me Usain Bolt.

"This is as far as I can take you." I sat him down. "You have to go on your own from here. They'll be looking for me. They'll have figured out by now that I was lying and Deucalion is probably on his way back right now."

He glanced around, susceptible to all the noises of the forest and night.

"Isaac,"

He looked at me.

"You have to go, stay in the trees."

"What if he kills you for helping me?"

I hadn't thought of that but I doubted he'd go through all this trouble just to kill me for disobeying him. He wanted me by his side. He said so himself.

My head shook. "Don't worry about that. Find Scott. He can help you." I urged.

The sound of a car nearby made us both on high alert.

"I don't know how to thank you." He grabbed my hand.

I shrugged. "Just tell them not to come looking for me and we're even. Tell Kylie to be strong and Peter to fight to be good. Tell Scott that he needs to let me go."

He nodded.

I turned and ran up the street toward the car that would clear any second. I glanced back to make sure he was okay.

Just as Isaac passed the city limits sign a big electrified portal stretched a big opening into the air.

I stalled and stared in awe.

There was a bloody masked man at the lip of the breach ready to snatch Isaac up.

"Isaac!" I dashed for him, needing him to be okay because I knew he meant something to Allison in our other life.

His screams filled the air but they were short lived as he was inside the breach and in a matter of seconds, it was completely gone.

The SUV finally caught up to me.

My hands raised in the air. My mind tried to cope with what just happened. My efforts were for not. There was no way a person in a bloody mask meant anybody any good.

"Turn around darling," A recognizable voice called.

With ice in my chest, I shifted around until I faced the person it belonged to.

She stepped out into the headlights so I could clearly see her face even though I didn't need the extra help. The last time I'd seen her was when she killed Kylie and my adoptive mom in that car wreck.

"Mom?"

She smirked at me.

A/N: Alright so this was just a short chapter to tide yall over until Etherealmindss gets a chance to update our first crossover chapter. She just went back to college so she's acclimating give her time please.

More importantly, if yall haven't heard about the White Supremacist rally/riot in Charlottesville, VA today (8/12/17) then go research it. I live in Charlottesville, born and raised. I didn't go to the rally because it was so out of hand. Helicopters were swarming since the morning, Internal Affairs, National Guard (I think), Military, state police and such were here to try and calm it down. I wanted to go initially to get my own photos of it so I could have it in case I come across someone that still believes racism is dead. CNN was saying this rally could've been the biggest America has seen in decades. A person died from a car crash while a few others were injured. There's footage all over YouTube and Twitter. This is in your face Racism and bigotry. A lot of businesses closed for the rally, a few stayed open. Both of my jobs, Draft Taproom and Iron (paffel and pastry place I just got a job at come see me yall) were open and they closed in the middle of the riot because it was that crazy downtown (where both businesses are located). My sister's friend's coworker was hit by the car (she's good just angry lol). And Trump still didn't want to call these people what they really were, White Nationalist/Supremacist. He evaded it by saying all parties were wrong. If you feel like disagreeing with me on this I'd advise against it. Being Black and in the south has always been hard but when White people that hate me and want to call me a Nigger and potentially lynch me up to a tree come by the thousands and rally the removal of a Robert E. Lee statue I have little to zero patience for small minded people. I try to be as level headed on here as I can but I will give zero shits about making you feel like a speck of dust. Try me. And don't go showing your ass on Etherealmindss fic "Smoke and Mirrors" either cuz she's biracial and if I see any disrespect in her reviews it's your ass.

ON A LESS THREATENING NOTE: I CHANGED MY SCREEN NAME TO SCALIAFICS94 BYE BYE THEFLASHFICS94 CUZ I ONLY HAD ONE FLASH FIC LOL. MY TUMBLR IS NOW SCALIARUNSMYLIFENOWAREYOUHAPPY INSTEAD OF BROSTAVORUNSMYLIFENOWAREYOUHAPPY. MY TWITTER IS NOW SCOTT'SMALIA (actually I think it's really DeniquaNFrye but whateva) INSTEAD OF STAVO'SBROOKE.

Also, I only got one person that didn't like the Malia being part snake now bit and like four people telling me they liked it so obviously it stayed. To clarify, she's not just turning into a tiny snake. Someone asked if she looked like the snakes from From Dusk Til Dawn snakes...Just about. I don't watch that show but pretty much like that. I thought about that Pennig video with Tyler slithering on the floor to Shelley's feet and her going "I'ma snake." after I posted it and I about died of laughter cuz I'm dumb af! XD


	20. ETHEREALMINDSS CROSSOVER CHAP POSTED

HEY YALL THIS IS JUST A POST TO LET YOU KNOW THAT ETHEREALMINDSS SCALIA FIC "SMOKE AND MIRRORS" HAS OFFICIALLY POSTED OUR SECOND CROSSVER CHAPTER. SO GO CHECK HERS OUT. AGAIN, IF YOU HAVEN'T READ HERS AND YOU GO TO READ THAT LAST CHAPTER OF HERS WITH MY CHARACTERS YOU WILL BE CONFUSED. IF YOU GO WITHOUT READING OUR CROSSOVER CHAPTERS YOU WILL BE CONFUSED. SO PLEASE READ HERS IF YOU HAVEN'T. WE WILL BE DOING THIS FOR A FEW MORE CHAPTERS. :P PLEASE REVIEW HERS CUZ SHE WORKED REALLY HARD ON IT :)


	21. I'm Not The One

Author's Note to help: Hey yall, so this is a key to reiterate who is who. For Summer and I it's fairly easy to distinguish between the two sets of characters for obvious reasons but I know I actually got confused reading earlier drafts on who was who so here is an explained refresher: E1 are my characters, E2 are Summer's (Etherealmindss "Smoke And Mirrors"). I didn't want to use E1/E2 for everything so when I wrote either and didn't specify which set I was referring to it's going to be the pack that goes along with the E1/E2 pov. So if it's E2 Malia's pov and I'm talking about Kira or Scott it's most likely E2 Kira or Scott unless said other wise or previously said it was E1. Idk if that makes sense but hopefully context clues will help and yall know the story lines for each character so use to deduce who is who if you're still confused. Also, let me know. I don't recommend telling me you're confused in the reviews, especially if you're a guest reviewer because I can't get back to you at all. You can message me on Tumblr at Scaliarunsmylifenowareyouhappy for any questions about that.

The song for this chapter is The Art of Sleeping - I'm Not The One

E1 SCOTT'S POV:

Hardly anything else filled the air but the sound of flesh hitting flesh as Stiles' fist repeatedly flew into Isaac's face.

A growl worked up my throat at the sight of him. He looked terrible. Blood caked onto his skin, a swollen eye, a broken nose, a busted lip, multiple cuts along his face and arms, and half patched up wounds that still reeked off fresh blood. His skin was a blend of cold sweat paleness, bruised blue, and sickly yellow. He didn't look quite alive.

Liam tried to stop Stiles but earned a punch to the jaw. He swiveled around, his hand pressed to his face.

Theo fought a smile, he began to say something.

"Shut up," Liam directed.

Kira shot Stiles a death stare that didn't do much damage considering he had one objective in mind. Make Isaac pay for what he did to Allison.

Allison pulled Stiles back, she was the only one to do the job because he would've rocked anyone else intervening.

"You piece of shit," I snatched him up with a rumbling growl. "You could've gotten her killed. You could've gotten Malia killed." I raised my fist in the air and prepared to bring it down on his already torn apart face.

There wasn't fear in his yellow eyes like there should've been. "She saved me," He muttered without energy.

My fist paused. "What?"

His eyes drifted shut.

"Isaac!" I roared, Alpha dominance behind it.

He looked at me, still without much to go off of. "Malia. Helped me escape."

Kira rushed forward. "Helped you escape how?"

His one unswollen eye barely made it to hers. "Deucalion gave her the kill order. She defied him. To save me."

Kira and I shared a half look of relief and fear.

"How'd you end up here?" I shook him when his eyes lowered again.

"She ran me out far enough to get a head start," He wheezed and coughed. "I tried to run then this portal opened up and a guy in a bloody mask grabbed me." His voice lowered. "She said for _you_ to let her go." His eyes shut until he wasn't conscious anymore.

I caught him even though all I wanted to do was live him here to inevitably die. My mind went to Malia. How she had to be hanging on by a thread, that close to Deucalion and under his orders. How she went against him to help Isaac.

Did she really tell him to relay that dumbass message? What a bitch. My bitch. I wanted to strangle some sense into her but I'd also do the same in her position.

I looked down at Kira.

She shrugged. "I'll take him." She scooped him up in her arms.

The smell of heavy guilt rolled off of Liam.

I looked back at him.

He immediately looked down.

E2 Malia cleared her throat. "We have some medicine that should help him." She glanced at her Scott.

They ended up taking care of him, mostly because none of us wanted to.

Allison told them what he did to her. We told them Deucalion had him this whole time and that his leverage was Isaac's older brother. They then understood fully. Inevitably because Scott needed more convincing we had to tell them about Kylie, how Deucalion had got her pregnant, how she took her own life because she couldn't bare having his child, how Malia went with him to save her.

E2 Malia's eye grew heavy with unshed tears and I knew she wanted to ask why we hadn't brought her, but she remained quiet.

Scott put a hand on her back.

She folded into him while he hugged her.

Allison had to pull Stiles off to the side to calm him down, he was so ready to finish what he started.

I walked over to them.

Her hand rested on his forearm while he fumed.

"As much as I want him dead too we can't let you go down that path again,"

Allison and I looked at each other in worry.

He sighed. "It's just one kill. He deserves it. If it were Malia he'd done that to you'd want to do the same."

And I would, in fact, do the same but I didn't have a past with a darkness able to swallow me whole and land me in a mental institution if I killed Isaac. I'm sure I'd suffer a little guilt and PTSD from killing him but nothing on the scale of what could send Stiles down the rabbit hole again.

"You can't go there any more than you already have." I referred to when he pretty much annihilated half of Deucalion's crew when we went to go rescue Kylie. He'd done it with ease.

Allison raised her hand to his face. "He's right. I thought I almost lost you that night. No more killing, even if they deserve it." Her eyes stared into his with intensity. "Malia would feel like she's to blame if you go off the rails again. You don't want that do you?"

His head shook. His hand pressed into hers on his face, then grabbed it as they lowered. "No."

If neither of us could reach him on this I was glad Malia could.

The night dragged on, tensions were still high and everyone was still a lot in awe of the situation but there was nothing to be done as of now. So we split ways. Kira, Theo, and I stayed at E2 Theo's apartment on the couch while Allison and Stiles stayed with E2 Liam. E1 Liam went with Scott and Malia. Lydia went with E2 Kira and Lydia. Before we split I suggested reaching out to Peter for assistance. If this Peter was like our Peter he'd be a lot to handle but he'd still help out if it involved Malia's safety over all.

Rest didn't come easy that night. Maybe not for most of us. Maybe not for any of us.

My mind moved a thousand miles a minute, too worried about everyone and everything I couldn't relax.

As the Sun rose and the living room lightened so did my thoughts. Malia was so so strong that I knew she'd overcome Deucalion's tyranny and remain strong. She wasn't the giving up type. Even though she had given up on us. That didn't deter me because I knew that's what she wanted to say but not what she felt. I could feel her with me with every heartbeat.

Sooner or later the front door opened and in walked Malia. Well, E2 Malia. Her hair was a dead give away had I been confused, which I wasn't. I knew my Malia like the back of my hand.

I sat up on the couch.

She came up to me with cinder block feet. Her eyes just as heavy as her foot falls. Her hands rested in her lap. "What is she like?"

I knew she meant my Malia and I felt comfortable saying it because I knew what she whispered in my ear that morning I tried to go with her to face Deucalion.

"She's like you. Strong, intimidating, such a ball buster, but I like it." I found myself smiling. "I'm assuming you two have some connection?"

She gave a small smile. "I'm not sure what we have yet. It's there, obviously. I just don't know what we're supposed to be." Her eyes so brown and familiar read mine. "What's your connection?"

"Music. We shared music in our other life." I thought about what we shared mentally and wondered if it would work with these other versions of ourselves.

My hand ventured to hers cautiously. "Can I try something?"

She nodded. "Yes," She said knowing I needed the verbal confirmation.

I hummed "Close Your Eyes" by Rhodes in hopes that it would trigger something that could travel across Earth's between us.

Her mind hunted for the proper memories that I worried wouldn't transcend through the multiverse. When her body grew rigid I knew that she had found the proper channel to access our love.

 _"Was it that bad?" I asked after I finished my mini performance for her._

 _She shook her head slightly, then tucked her hair behind her ear. "It's not that," She gestured to the guitar. "You were perfect."_

 _There was a moment between us that we both recognized how intimate this had gotten without meaning to be._

 _"Thanks." I placed the instrument between us. "You know, I come out here a lot now. To think mostly. Or just to stare. The quiet helps with the not knowing, you know."_

 _"Yeah,"_

 _I glanced at her. "You want to tell me something." I straightened up. "What is it?"_

 _"How can you tell?"_

 _I shrugged. "I'm the Alpha, I just know things and feel things about you guys. Besides, I know you, Malia."_

 _Her hand went to her forehead as she prepared herself to tell me whatever it was she had to tell me. "I go back to my cave sometimes."_

 _My eyes widened. "Why?"_

 _"Because I miss it," She said it like it was obvious. "Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for you and Stiles. For the whole pack, but that was my home for years and years. And you took that from me without my consent."_

 _I never viewed our turning her back to human like that, but I should've. I should've tried to understand her point of view more and accommodated her._

 _Her other hand came to my arm. "I wouldn't want to go back now that I've felt human things, now that I know what it's like to feel something other than hunger and loneliness, but I do miss the solitude. I miss having the space to breath and think." Her eyes softened. "And the only other time I have that feeling is when I'm with you."_

 _Like a total sucker, my heart stalled in my chest at her confession. I knew that she didn't know the effect her words had on me, but even if she did we wouldn't talk about it._

 _"Because I'm the Alpha," I agreed to clear the awkward air only I felt._

 _"No," She looked out to the starry night. "Because you're Scott." Her hand left my arm._

 _A warmness filled my chest as we sat under the stars._

 _"You know, I didn't think it was possible to feel this way about a girl before," I started. "I've never had this friendship before." I cracked a grin. "I like it."_

 _"Yeah?" Her brow arched. "Am I your best friend, McCall?"_

 _I playfully scoffed. "Don't push it."_

 _A laugh bubbled from her. "Way to hurt a girl's feelings."_

 _I wiped away the amusement from my face and said, "You're more than a best friend, Lia. You're pack."_

 _She seemed satisfied with that. "Pack." She sunk down on the bench, her eyes closed. "Do you ever think about what your life would be like if Peter hadn't bitten you?"_

 _My head nodded. "All the time, but when I feel deprived of a normal human life I remind myself of all the good we've done, of all the lives we've saved, and of all the family I've made. If he had gone past Stiles and me in the woods that night I never would be the leader I am now. I never would've met Deucalion or Kira or..." I mentally grabbed for someone else important._

 _"Me?"_

 _I gazed at her. "Or you." I looked back out at the sky. "So I try not to dwell on the what ifs. It only wastes time and makes me angry."_

 _"Why angry?"_

 _"Because I think about what if I were human and Allison and I would've worked out. Maybe she wouldn't have died."_

 _She was quiet for long enough for me to assume she wouldn't say anything on it, so it surprised me when she moved the guitar out of the way to sit right next to me. "Scott, you don't know that things would've played out differently. You can't blame yourself for her death forever."_

 _I shook my head. "I don't anymore, but I still wonder."_

 _Her hand grabbed mine. "I've been wanting to say this to you all semester, but I couldn't find the courage to say it. I'm gonna say it now because you need to hear it." Her brown eyes burned into mine. "You deserve to be happy, Scott. I know that Allison dying felt like the end of the world and Kira leaving was really hard, but you gotta get back out there. There's someone waiting for their Scott McCall. Maybe they've been through the same things you've been through or maybe they haven't. Maybe they know about the supernatural or maybe they don't. Either way, you need to allow yourself to feel that again."_

 _That's what I worried about._

 _"Why are you saying all of this to me?" I asked quietly._

 _"Because I want to see you with a smile on your face more and not worried about all of us or Beacon Hills." She stared back at me with concerned eyes. "So just be happy already so I can stop worrying about you."_

 _I put on a smile. "You're worried about me, that's cute." I teased lightly._

 _Her eyes rolled. "Don't do that. I just owe you a lot and want to make sure you're okay."_

 _My forehead creased. "You don't owe me anything, Malia."_

 _"No, I do. I owe you a lot for turning me back, for helping me with school, for not giving up on me when Stiles and I ended things. For being there for me."_

 _A sigh left me. "Well, I'm doing okay. I'm happy, I promise."_

 _"I don't believe you." She chuckled. "What exactly is keeping a smile on your face?"_

 _I gazed into her eyes. "You for one."_

 _She stilled, then narrowed her eyes. "Me?"_

 _I nodded with a grin. "Duh."_

 _There was a question in her eyes that begged me to clarify. I let her see what I wanted her to see, what I've wanted her to see for some time now. Yet, she didn't look freaked out._

 _Completely out of character, I leaned the distance down so that my face hovered hers. When she didn't move away my lips found hers testingly. I didn't expect her to kiss me back, but that didn't stop my hand from moving to cup her face as I deepened the kiss. The fact that she allowed me to deepen the kiss hadn't escaped me but when my tongue met hers and she moaned surprise filled me. Before I ruined a good thing, I pulled away._

 _Her closed eyes slowly opened to gaze at me wordlessly._

 _We stared at each other low-lidded and breathless._

 _"I've been waiting a while to do that."_

 _She stared at me with wide and confused eyes, until she shook her head._

 _Before she could break my heart, I stood to my feet. "I'm going to sleep on the couch. It's late, you can stay in my room if want." I cleared my throat. "Night, Lia."_

 _She stared at me with that same unsure look. "Night." Her voice barely above a whisper._

A pain struck my head but I didn't let go of her hands.

 _Dear Scott,_

 _This is perhaps the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I don't know where to start. So I guess I'll start off by saying thank you once last time. If it wasn't for you I wouldn't have lived. If it wasn't for you I never would've tasted dill pickle kettle chips. If it wasn't for you I never would've known love. I know that I said a lot of hurtful things to you, but there were all lies. I don't blame you, Scott. I never blamed you. All I wanted to do was protect the people I care about the most, the person that I care about the most. You never wanted me to change who I was. You saw me as your equal. For that, I can't thank you enough. And I hope you think of me in a positive light in the future. I never meant to hurt you, Scott. I wish I had more time. I wish we had more time. I wish I could tell you everything that you make me feel, everything I wanted with you, and everything I would give up to be with you. But I'm gone now so you have to forget everything that we had and move on. I know that this will be hard for you, but you have to let me go. You have to accept that we were never meant to be. And it's okay because I got a taste of what it was like to experience your love. It was amazing. It opened things up in me that I didn't know were there. My music! I started playing music seriously because of you. I wrote a few songs. I wrote you one, wrote us one. If you'd like to hear it, it's on my laptop. The password is Scott1. I know, it's a little obsessive, but what can a girl do when she's in love? And I am. I'm in love with you, Scott. I have been for a while, even if I didn't want to admit it to myself. In case you doubt it, I know you love me too. I wish I had the courage to say this to your face, but I can't bear it. You will always be my Alpha. That will never change. I believe in you. All I ask is for you to go off, get away from Beacon Hills, and do whatever the hell you want. If you happen to find love along the way then know that I'll be so happy for you. Your happiness is all I've ever wanted from the beginning. You remember that night on your porch before you kissed me? I told you that some girl was looking for their Scott McCall. Well, here I am. Or was. I wasn't the first and I won't be the last. Take care of yourself. So just close your eyes._

 _I love you so much_

 _Malia_

Wait, hold on a minute. What did she mean by we could never be together and one day she hoped I saw her in a good light? Where the hell did she go? I supposed that was our separation after high school. We remembered enough to know that we spent a few years apart.

E2 Malia fell back with a gasp. Her eyes hit mine with concern, questions, and fascination. Then worry.

A wetness trickled out of my nose. The back of my hand dabbed at it only to discover black blood on the skin.

She leaned forward, her thumb wiped it away in a path of light fire above my mouth. "That can't be good." Her hand rested on my cheek while her eyes lowered to mine. The inner workings of her mind showed through her eyes, the memories on full display as she stared at me like it was the two of us in those memories. The weight of their feelings flowed between us.

Been there, done that.

I could see inside her that she wanted that just as badly as I did. I could see that she wanted her lips to be on mine for a few moments to test how different it would feel with the intensity of our memories between us. I could see her mouth while it moved toward mine.

The heat of her breath tickled my lips and even though it wouldn't technically be cheating no part of me felt right about this even though I wanted to press mine into hers. She was Malia, but she wasn't My Malia. Her hair was different. The light in her eyes was different. Her walk was different. Her heart was different. She was different. Her different fit with Her Scott. Even if they hadn't figured out what they felt for each other yet they knew they had spoken feelings and with the knowledge of their other selves that they were shaped for each other. That didn't mean they had to end up together in this world but I couldn't ever see Malia and I being just friends on any universe so why start with them.

My hands went to her shoulders to stop her, my mouth hovered an inch away from hers.  
"We can't," I told her, even though twenty-five percent of me still wanted to.

She slid her eyes to mine. With a shake of her head, she said, "I'm sorry," She put some distance between us. "I don't know what I was thinking. You've got her and I've got..." She trailed off. She huffed. "How are you separating these feelings from what you feel for your current Malia?"

"You don't. You tell yourself that there's no way you can be with that other person and the one in front of you is the best version there is, the only one that truly matters. They're the one that's going to love you like you want to be loved. Whether you see it now or not."

Her head tilted back in thought.

My arms went to my knees. "He loves you in his own way if that's what you're worried about."

Her sandy blonde locks rustled back. She made a noise in her throat of half ass acceptance. "We're not quite there yet. Or anywhere." She sighed, her eyes met mine. "I don't know where we are."

"Maybe not," I shrugged. "But I do know that if he knew what we were about to do he'd try to rip me apart because he wants you, cares about you, and wants to protect you even though you don't need protecting."

"Maybe I do." She ventured. "Maybe I don't know what's best for myself anymore. Maybe my decisions are getting my friends kidnapped, raped, and tortured." Her eyes grew stony. "Maybe someone with more experience should make the decisions from now on."

My forehead crinkled. "You want to become one pack? You'd follow him and let him be your Alpha?"

Her hands opened. "Why not? What could I possibly have to lose? We all trust Scott. He's not perfect but he's transparent. If there's a Big Bad to be stopped he'll take him down. Or her down. It's 2017. Gender equality and all that."

Her phone buzzed.

She looked down at it in almost confusion. "Uh, I've got to go. I'll see you tomorrow." She stood.

I rose with her.

We approached each other for what should've been a nice embrace but in reality, we danced around each other to finally deliver an awkward hug that melted nicely into a soft hold. Had circumstances been different in any way, this could've been the Malia I was "destined" to be with. She could've been the one that I had to tell face to face that I was in love with and not even her stubbornness would deter me from doing so. Even if I had to drug her myself to do so.

E2 MALIA'S POV:

I met up with Isaac in the middle of campus. His text had me worried. I didn't know much about the mop headed werewolf but I knew he was loyal enough to Scott to not question and he cared about Allison. That made him an okay guy in my book.

He bounced on his feet nervously when I approached.

"What's wrong?"

He stalled at the sound of my voice. He looked at me with heavy blue eyes. "What's wrong? What's wrong?" His voice rose as he neared me. "Look around you, Malia. Are you not seeing what I'm seeing? We're being attacked at all angles."

I thought I was on board, but I wanted clarification.

My hand rose in the air. "By the Black Market Kidnappers? The BMK?"

Oddly it had a good ring to it.

He leaned down to share his intensity. "Not just them, but these other versions of ourselves." He looked around us in caution. "What do we really know about them? What if they're working for the BMK?"

"Why in the world would they do that?"

"Because they brokered a deal that we'd be taken and not them." He suggested but he sounded sure of himself. "Think about it," His hands went to my shoulder. "When did they show?"

I sighed. "Isaac, I know we're all on edge not knowing which of us could be next but you need to calm the fuck down." My eyes searched his. "The only reason we got Lydia and Cora back was because of _them_."

His head shook as he backed away. "Or maybe that's what they want us to think. I'm telling you, I get fishy vibes from them. Not all but a few."

My brow rose. "Who?"

"Their Theo."

Protectiveness for any Theo flared up in me.

I stalked toward him. "You listen to me, you don't need to worry about what they've got going on in their world. For the time being, they're here to help us stop the BMK, then when they need our help we'll do what we can. I know seeing their Isaac messed up like that has you rattled, but that was on their end, not ours."

"How can you be so sure of any of this?"

A huff left me when I started for the mailroom.

He followed. "Like their Malia is working with their Deucalion willingly so how much could they really need our help?"

I shot him a look. "You heard the same story I did. She had no other choice. She did what I would've done if it meant protecting you all, even your paranoid, delusional ass."

We walked down the stairs and crossed the distance to get to the United Commons, then we were in the mailroom.

He blew out a ragged breath. "Maybe you're right. Maybe what I overheard both Allison's talking about through me over the edge."

The back of my hand stopped against his chest as I turned to him. "What are you talking about?"

He looked at me with fear and abundant nerves, then he pulled me off the alcove we were headed to anyway. "I overheard E1 Allison tell our Allison that she knows she's going to die last night."

I'm sure confusion was written across my face in bold letters.

"She's going to die, that's what she said," He whispered animatedly. "She said she died in their other life and became an Angel. So where does that leave us? Where does that leave _me_?"

My hands went to his arms. "First off, calm down and breathe. Are you sure you weren't dreaming or something?"

He gave me a look of 'bitch, I'm about to slap you'. "No, I wasn't dreaming! She's going to die!"

"Shhh!" I nervously glanced around us. "We don't know anything for sure. If today has taught us anything is that we don't know anything for sure. So you sit on this and don't open your mouth about it to anyone."

He moved forward. "But-"

"But nothing," I pushed him back. "What they get themselves into is none of our business outside of helping them. If we intervene with their Allison dying what do you think will happen to our Allison?"

He stared at me not able to form words in his doubt.

"Exactly," I went to my P.O Box and turned my combination in. "We don't know. So if you keep your scarf loving trap shut we won't have to test that theory out." I opened my box to find nothing in there. I took E1 Scott's advice to ask for Peter's help and he sounded on board over the phone. The odds of something being in there this early were slim to none, he'd have to overnight it and it'd get here this evening at best.

I slammed it shut and turned to him. "We got a deal?"

He nodded.

"Good,"

We headed for the exit.

"Maybe go get some sleep. You look like shit, Scarf Boy." My mind tugged at distant memories but it was gone before I could comprehend what it meant or what it was.

He nodded, but I could tell he was still losing his mind.

E2 STILES' POV:

" _Stiles," The voice of the Nogitsune rang in my head._

My body jarred awake An immediate yawn left me but was cut short from the warmth of a body against mine. A female body.

My eyes went down a sleeping Cora curled up beside me, then they went to six and three-quarters of an inch sized tent in the sheets. I silently cursed.

How could this happen? I mean, I knew how this could happen but I hated that it happened next to Cora of all people. We hadn't known each other long before she left Beacon Hills those years ago but I knew her enough to know I liked her as a person when she wasn't hurting Lydia or making stupid decisions like attacking one of the twins.

I carefully lifted the sheet as to not wake her. I slid one leg out of the bed and onto the floor and worked on the next one, but my foot got caught between the twisted sheet and duvet that I toppled onto the floor. Loudly. And with a groan.

The bed shifted with the noise of her awakening.

The very last thing I wanted her to witness was an erection from a guy she seemingly trusted enough to sleep with in the same bed after being held captive, raped, and tortured for who knew how long. If she saw this monstrosity in my boxers she'd run for the hills and I didn't want that. We just got her back.

"Stiles?" She rolled over to my side of the bed so she could check on me. She peeked over.

My hands instantly went to my boxers.

"What are you doing on the floor?"

My lips pursed. "Uh...I'm doing my morning stretches." I flipped onto my stomach with a groan as my hard on rubbed against the carpet while my arms and legs reached out. I readied myself to do a few push-ups but my arms quaked after three. I tried to think of things that would make it go down.

Cockroaches. Dead puppies. Grandmas. Raisins. Coach. Malia.

Nope, that last one made it worst.

I internally groaned because I was afraid of this happening. My seemingly minor attraction to Malia had unknowingly bloomed into a tiny crush. I was a fool because I knew nothing could or would ever happen between us for multiple reasons. But she had a lot of the same qualities I admired in Lydia, which was probably what prompted the crush. Maybe if Lydia saw me interested in someone other than her she'd see what she had in front of her. And she did, only it was Kira and not me she saw.

"Stiles,"

I dared a peek back at her.

Her dark brow shot up onto her face. "What are you doing?" Her voice thick with sleep.

"I'm on my way to class," I rushed to my dresser and stepped to pants, any pants, then shoved my feet into my chucks. "You can stay as long as you like. I'll see you later." I made a mad dash for the door and shut it behind me before she could finish her sentence.

Crisis averted for the moment but there was still a crisis in my pants. If I didn't do something about it soon my balls would burst. So I made my way to a communal bathroom near my first class. I knew my bulge wasn't obvious to everyone but it sure felt like it.

Why couldn't I be more like Scott? He wasn't pushy, but he was vocal enough about what he wanted that Malia wanted it too. Girls flocked to him because he was nice enough but up front about his intentions. They didn't want to be friends with him, they just wanted to fuck.

Maybe if I gave off that attitude I'd get more girls' attention. Like Lydia's.

Speaking of the strawberry blonde Banshee, she walked side by side with the Japanese and Korean vixen.

They chatted like nothing had changed between all of us like Lydia had never been gone, like she never entertained the thought of us as anything else. And I supposed she didn't. I wasn't good enough for her. I knew she wouldn't agree with that but how else was I supposed to feel when my best friend who was looking for love bypassed me completely because I wasn't up to her standards.

Even from the other side of campus, she could feel my stare, which prompted her to look my way. Her effortless smile fell away from Kira's doings as soon as she saw me. Like I was the trigger that brought back her bad experiences. Because I had a penis? Was that it?

I should've just gone over to them to get an answer but I was too much of a coward. E1 Stiles would've had no problem doing just that. In fact, he would've gotten the girl because his Lydia had the unrequited feelings between the two of them, he was too wrapped up into Allison to see. I couldn't express how weird that was to witness.

"Stiles," The dark, thousand-year-old voice crept over my skin and ran a chill down my back.

My eyes squeezed shut until it went away and I headed back to my dorm. Who thought being a college freshman would be this stressful already?

E2 LYDIA'S POV:

Kira and I walked down the campus on our way to the dining hall for a bite to eat. She'd been great since last night. I still think we were moving too fast and we needed to slow down. I wasn't in a position to be with anyone, even Kira right this moment. Maybe after things were back to "normal", our normal. I was definitely interested in her and her in me. It was weird to see E1 Kira and Lydia not have that same attraction and intrigue we had between us, but then again it was a result of them becoming "sisters" from a young age. That didn't stop E1 Kira from having feelings for her Malia, she didn't need to be present for me to see how Kira felt about her.

What was even stranger was seeing how Lydia stared after Stiles when he wasn't looking, when he was gazing at Allison, when he was just breathing. I couldn't express how trippy it was to see our situations reversed.

That was part of the problem with Stiles. I knew he wouldn't hurt me, I knew he would be initial in my healing process, but I wasn't ready to start hurting him again. Because I knew that look Lydia had when she looked at her Stiles, it was the same look my Stiles had when he looked at me. Seeing both felt like a sledgehammer banged into my chest and knocked the wind out of me.

If I said seeing Stiles with someone else didn't hurt I'd be a liar. It did hurt. Not just because it was Allison, my sister, but because I couldn't remember a time when Stiles wasn't by my side, making sure I was okay, and tending to my needs. For a long time I took advantage of that relationship and maybe I still did, but if seeing the situation reversed taught me anything it was that Stiles and I needed distance. Did I want to give him that? Not really. I missed him.

"Then that's when I fell flat on my face and knew for a fact that I didn't like men the same way the other girls did."

My body felt heavier than normal with a slight flush. I looked up and over to see him walking across campus in the opposite direction, his golden whiskey eyes cut through me from the distance.

Looking at him from across the way I could acknowledge that he was attractive and had plenty of great qualities that I loved. That wasn't the scare. The scare was he still had me up on a pedestal and actually being together wouldn't be nearly as amazing as he fantasized about over the years along with the worry that we wouldn't fit romantically. He thought it had never crossed my mind but it was something I thought about quite often. Reason after reason popped up why we wouldn't work. If I went against my instinct to shrink away near men, even the ones I trusted, then what message would that send him? That our love overcame my abuse and he was the only man that I could relax around? That would only confused him more. If we were ever going to take our friendship to the next level we both had to be happy with other people.

And I could think of one person in particular that held a flame for him a while back that he was too blind to see. The hole in my chest from our separation lessened at the prospect of him being happy someday soon.

We grew further apart further we walked in different directions, our gazes separated in response to the distance.

Kira turned quiet, probably not a fool to the unspoken scene that played out before her.

I didn't know what to say to her about it so I didn't say anything, but I could sense her uncomfortableness.

We arrived at the dining hall.

She held the door open for me, a gesture of inquiry with the way her almond shaped eyes gazed at me.

I passed through with a budding grin on my face, my eyes softened while they connected with hers.

Her brow arched in a way that stirred something below my panty line.

A blush hit my face and quickly spread due to her heated eyes. "Thank you," I muttered.

She closed the door behind her and caught up to me. She looked forward. "You can thank me later." She smirked.

A laugh hit me as we neared the lip of the dining hall entrance.

She joined in.

Like that my morning was back to being laughs and butterflies in the stomach.

E2 STILES' POV:

Screw classes. I was going to play hooky today. It wasn't like I hadn't done it before in high school, I just didn't think my track record would be this consistent this early on in the semester.

I climbed the stairs, wanting to stomp through some closed in frustrations instead of taking the elevator. When I got back to my room I pulled my shirt off over my head and headed for the shower as I unzipped my jeans. I kicked off my chucks.

The bathroom door opened just when I went for the knob.

I was greeted by a wet and towel wrapped Cora.

We stared at each other with wide eyes.

She pulled her towel up a bit more. "What are you doing back so soon? I thought you had class."

I was distracted by the very hot, very naked, and very wet girl in front of me to speak.

She stepped forward in a way that my made my mind tug and think of Malia. "Stiles?"

My head shook. "Sorry," I turned around and covered my eyes. "I-Sorry."

She passed by me. "You don't have to cover your eyes. It's not a crime to look."

I turned toward the bathroom this time and propped my hands on my hips. "No, but it is respectful not to." My throat cleared. "Especially, given your circumstances in the past..." I shut up with the tension in the room. Who was I kidding? When I was nervous I couldn't shut up, so I said, "About this morning, I'm a weird guy in the mornings. Weirder, I should say."

"Stiles, I know you had an erection this morning, I'm not mad. You're a guy after all. That is what happens in the morning and I was sleeping pretty close to you. I'd be offended if you hadn't gotten hard."

My forehead creased. "Wait, so to be clear you're not mad at me?" I kept my focus on the small bathroom of a college dorm.

"Not even a little bit." She rummaged through my drawers for a proper shirt. "Should I be mad at you for having perfectly normal bodily functions?"

Was that a trick question?

She headed toward me when she found a shirt. Her dark, wet hair brushed back. "I never thought this would be the case," She muttered.

My eyes went down to her brown eyes. "That what would happen?" I trained my eyes to her face because I could tell she wasn't wearing any pants. Maybe not even panties.

"That I'm making _you_ nervous."

I didn't know what that meant. I went to get her some pants.

"Why don't you tell me what happened with Lydia?" She grabbed the spare toothbrush in my shower caddy.

I tossed her a pair of skinny jeans I could never muster up the courage to wear. "Nothing happened."

She shot me a knowing look. "You reek of heartache and fear so let's have it." She ran a line of toothpaste along the brush.

My hip leaned against the doorframe as I explained to her what happened this morning. I guess I didn't realize how much I needed someone there to listen to me because they cared. I knew everyone cared, but we all had our own things going on. Scott had more than enough to deal with Malia and their epic trans-universe love story that affirmed their feelings for each other. Asking him to give up five minutes of his time to listen to my problems seemed unreasonable.

"I'm hungry." Cora looked to me after she finished her towel drying her hair and put it up into a chaotic bun.

My thumb gestured over my shoulder. "I've got some Cheez-its under my bed."

Her lip curled into a snarl before she growled at me.

I leaned back.

Feminine prowess and power glowed in her eyes.

"Sounds like you don't like Cheez-its so I'll retract my offer."

She moved for me.

I backed up.

Her brown eyes turned soft when her mouth turned from a scowl into a laugh. "Nah, I'm fucking with you. White cheddar?"

"Of course." I couldn't help but laugh. Because I really needed a laugh and I was about ready to piss my pants a second ago.

She grinned at me. "Don't just stand there," She bypassed me. "I'm way behind on my shows and I could eat my weight in junk food. Twice." She flopped down on my bed and reached underneath for the bin of snacks I kept hidden from my roommate, Jerry. He had hardly been here lately but I still felt the need to keep them to myself in case I got late night munchies. Not that I smoked.

Hell, I should start.

I grabbed my laptop, then joined her on the bed. "Alright, I don't know how long you've been gone but we're about to experience is called Netflix & Chill."

Her eyes rolled. "I haven't been gone that long," Her tone slightly entertained.

We set the bin between us as well, our backs against the headboard. We looked at each other.

"What do you want to watch?" I asked.

She shrugged. "I don't know. What's good?"

"The OA. I don't know if it'll trigger anything, but I think you might like it. I know I definitely cried at the end."

"Yeah?" She started in on the crackers.

I nodded. "What do you say? Want to give it a try?"

She nodded, her mouth full of salty goodness while she unwrapped a ding dong.

The show started and shortly after I could tell her attention was invested. By the end of the episode, I could tell she was emotionally where I was when I was in her place.

She looked at me with chocolate and white filling crusted around her mouth. "Another one."

I played the next episode with a knowing smile on my face. We were in for the emotional roller coaster that was The OA. One could simply not talk about it too much without giving it away and it was too ethereal and amazing to not experience it for yourself.

By the third episode, I noticed she had dozed off to sleep, which I was totally content with because my eyes felt heavy too.

I stopped the episode we were on. My eyes went to her sleeping self. Even if it was only Cora, I had to take a moment to appreciate that in the midst of my Lydia drama someone else that had gone through the same things that were prolonged felt comfortable in my presence. Maybe it wasn't me that she felt comfortable around but I needed to think that to feel better about myself.

Easily, I drifted off into much-needed sleep.

E2 SCOTT'S POV:

"He what?" I demanded as we left our dorm room.

I woke to an empty room this morning. Worried something happened to her I prepared to go out looking but she strolled back in and assured me she went to visit E1 Scott for a talk because she couldn't stop thinking about it. Frankly, neither could I. I was shocked I actually got any sleep during the night.

She trekked ahead of me when I locked the door, she pressed the button for the elevator. She fooled with her almost blonde hair. It seemed it was growing lighter by the day. Or maybe she was growing darker.

"Calm down, It wasn't a big deal."

I went after her. "If the situation had been reversed would it have been a big deal then?"

The air was broken with a ding and a moment later the doors opened.

We stepped inside, the normally big enough space seemed smaller, more compact. More intimate with just the two of us.

She pressed her head into her palm with a sigh. "My brain hurts. I didn't do it to hurt you, Scott. It just happened."

I neared her, my front tapped into her body heat as I stood directly behind her. "Did you kiss him?"

She stilled, then answered several seconds later. "No."

A low growl settled in my throat. My hands went to her hair and yanked hard enough to let her know my sentiment, but not hard enough to actually hurt her. I loosely braided her hair, then wrapped my hand around it.

Her soft moans filled the elevator. She was into it.

I brought her head back enough that I could whisper in her ear. My other hand slid to her neck and stroked it softly. I ground my semi hard cock into her tight ass.

"Don't do it again," I whispered into her ear, the same words she told me when I cheated with Fiona. "Do you understand me?"

She nodded.

My hand wrapped around her throat tight enough so that I knew she liked it. I ground my hips into her. "What was that?"

"Yes," She moaned.

I had half a mind to stop the elevator and slid my hand down into her shorts because I knew she was wet for me. Only me. Not him.

Her arousal hit my nose. My eyes glowed red. My hand around her throat went to her hip. I had no choice but to slam the magic button to halt us in between floors with my other hand.

She practically melted into me with the knowledge at her impending orgasm.

I squeezed one of her tits under her shirt, loving the feel of her soft, supple mound against my rough hand.

"Mhmm," She moaned. Her hand guided my other down to her shorts. She stilled when my fingers parted her pussy lips, dipped into her wetness, and spread it over her hard clit. "Fuck," Her hand stayed on top of mine.

My thumb took over rubbing her clit while my next two fingers shoved into her slick warmth. Her scent filled the air. My other hand pulled on her nipple and twisted. I couldn't help but groan into her ear. My cock longed to be where my fingers where but we weren't there yet. Plus, I didn't want our first time to be in an elevator that smelled like canned cheese.

"Scott," She tilted her head back to rest on my shoulder. Her eyes glared blue.

"I've wanted to do this to you the moment I laid eyes on you." I breathed into her ear while I sped up my fingers in her. "And when you walk around our room in your underwear or those cotton shorts." I twisted her nipple to get a reaction out of her.

Her legs grew weak. "Shit," She groaned.

I pressed her into me more. "Ah ah ah, stand up like a good girl."

She stood up on wobbly legs.

My mouth hovered along her her neck and shoulder without ever touching the skin. "And when you fucked yourself with that dildo while calling out my name..." I shoved a third finger in her which made her cry out loudly. "That was so hot, I wanted to fuck you so hard, make you cum for the rest of the day with my fingers." I sped up. "With my mouth," My thumb sped up on her clit. "With my cock." I curved my fingers against her g-spot.

"Oh God. Uhhh," Her walls tightened around my fingers.

My hand released her nipple to smack her tit. I wrapped that hand around her braid and pulled. "Because I didn't do that I have you flirting with E1 Scott and sharing memories. I know you want to fuck him because you want to fuck me. Isn't that right?" I tightened my grip on her hair.

Her legs dipped.

I pushed us against the elevator wall, then went back to my duties as a man. "Isn't that right?" Alpha authority echoed in my voice.

"Yes!" Her walls became even tighter.

I sniffed the air and groaned. "Do you want to cum on my fingers, Lia?"

Her whole body shook. "Ahh yes! Yes!"

My hand went back to her neck to tighten my grip. My fingers slammed into her harder so she could ride out the orgasm moments away. I tilted her head back to lower my mouth onto hers. My teeth caught her bottom lip and tugged. Seconds later my hand was even more soaked from her cum.

"Scott, yes! Fuck me! Uhhh Scott!" Her legs were complete jello now.

"Remember that the next time you want to flirt with him to make me jealous."

She chuckled as she caught her breath.

I slid my fingers out of her, tasted one, and groaned. "You taste so fucking good, Lia."

"I can't wait to say the same,"

My hand went to her mouth and without having to tell her she knew what to do.

After she sucked my fingers clean and she could stand on her own again I started the elevator back up and we were on our way to the dining hall.

We walked amongst the unsuspecting humans with our secret. They didn't know how good they had because of people like us. If we so chose to stop being the good guys then what would happen to them? I didn't want to think like that but I was tired. We all were tired.

Malia's eyes looked up at me in desire, admiration, and something heavier I was sure if we were supposed to be feeling yet. Which led me back to my original question, what did he show her?

If this whole experience had taught me anything it was that I didn't have to be afraid of what I was feeling for her even though we were roommates right now and I didn't want to lose her to anyone. Not even another version of me. He wasn't good enough for her.

My hand itched to hold hers but I wasn't sure if that's what she wanted. Was she a hand holding kind of girl?

"Do you think we're in control of ourselves?" She voiced, her voice uncertain in a way it hadn't been moments ago.

"Huh?"

Her eyes rolled. "Like do you think we're in control of our own emotions? I'm not saying that I doubt my feelings for you but I keep thinking about what Scott showed me. And I can't help but wonder if we have a say in this?"

"What are you saying?" I stopped mid stride.

She turned to face me, a question of guilt and honesty in her eyes. "That maybe it's a good idea for me to move into Theo's apartment for a bit."

I stepped toward her. "For what exactly?"

She glanced around then lowered her voice. "We don't exactly have clear parameters for our whatever it is we have. Us living together while trying not to mess up our roommate situation but also wanting more is a little confusing and could easily be fixed with my moving out. We need an ounce of space so we know what we want. Am I wrong?"

"Yeah," I stared at her.

Her hands went to her hips. "Well, you come up with a way to fix our problems."

My eyes narrowed. "We don't have problems."

"Yes, we do." She insisted.

I tried to remain calm but my voice bubbled with irritation and worry that we were having an unnecessary fight. "No, we don't."

Out of nowhere, she shoved me back forcefully. "You have sex with Fiona because you didn't want to get involved with me," Her voice now filled with the same fire that danced behind her angry eyes.

I righted myself. "I thought you were over that. We talked about it..."

"How can you actually think I'm okay with that? I tried to be okay with it, to grasp that you had the right to do it because we weren't together but if it were me that slept with some other guy you wouldn't be okay with it overnight so you can't ask me to be. I'm not." Her hands balled in the air. "I'm not okay with it because I don't want you sleeping with other girls or kissing them or making them cum while screaming your name. I know we don't know as much as we should about each other but I want to be the one that does that." She let out a weighted breath as if her stress had left and made a round trip back.

The guilt that never actually went away with our initial talk poked at me. I wanted to be firm in my belief that what I had done wasn't actually wrong but she was right. Had she done the same I would've felt some type of way about it. Had she kissed some guy in front of me I don't know what I'd do but I could guarantee it wouldn't be pretty. So maybe I should be okay with her wanting the time and space she craved to give the idea of us some serious thought.

Our eyes locked.

"What do you want me to do?"

She sighed. "I'm going to move into Theo's. We can go on like the move isn't a big deal or we can accept it for what it is and take one day at a time." She could see that I wasn't a fan of this but that I wanted her to be comfortable about us. She reached out for my hand.

My hand squeezed hers.

"I want us to work, Scott. I do, but sometimes people aren't where they need to be to work just yet."

Regardless of that, I pulled her to me for a tight embrace knowing that she'd hug me back with the same vigor. "I'm sorry," I said into her hair. What I really meant was I'm an idiot and I know we'll make it work whenever you're ready.

Her hands came together behind my back as she tightened her grip. "I know." What she really meant was she knew it didn't mean anything and she knew we'd eventually get there.

Wasn't that all that mattered?

Still, in my arms, she looked up at me. "If you really want to know what I saw I'm sure Scott could show you, too. It'll get a little blurry after but at least then you'd know where I am."

I really had to see what she saw now, I wanted to know just how powerful it was.

We continued on to the mailroom.

She veered off to go to the bathroom a few moments before I caught sight of Stiles.

He headed over.

The moment he neared I got a bad vibe.

"Are you okay?"

His eyes darted around the room but struggled to remain calm. "Where's Malia?"

I reached out to touch his shoulder but he moved out of reach. "Stiles, what's going on?"

He fanned his flannel against him. His usually pale skin held a greenish tint. "Just a little under the weather."

"Is it Lydia stuff?"

He looked at me and stilled. "Yeah, Lydia stuff. What else is new?"

I relaxed. "You know she'll come around one of these days. And if not then you'll find someone equally if not more amazing that sees what a catch you are."

He nodded. "Sure, yeah."

My eyes narrowed. "You sure you're okay?"

Malia exited the bathroom just then.

He answered with a pointed stare.

"Hey," She greeted. "You're looking a bit crackheadish today." She nodded. "It's working for you."

He gave her the finger.

She cracked a grin. "Where's Cora?"

He looked at her like he wasn't taking in her words and trying to figure her out.

She glanced at me. "Stiles?"

He blinked. "Cora is with the Allison's." He gestured toward the P.O. Boxes. "Their

Scott told me you called Peter and he's sending something to help."

We went over to her box.

Out of privacy, I turned my back with my arms crossed. I noticed Stiles paid close attention as if waiting for something to spring out at us.

Once open, I glanced back. Inside was a receipt for us to go up to the counter for her package.

We rounded the troops after we got it and met at Theo's. I almost forgot that there were double of all of us except Malia and Cora. Almost.

We gathered around the kitchen as we stared at the case.

E1 Scott stepped forward. "I'll open it if you want me to."

They looked at each other.

She shook her head. "No, I've got it." She offered an appreciative half grin, then moved to open it.

A tiny bottle along with a note laid inside.

"It's just a vile," Liam commented.

Malia picked up the note.

"What does it do?" He reached for it.

Theo pulled his hand back. "Don't touch that."

She looked around at everyone then back at me. "Theo's right. We need to be careful handling it. It's a form of wolfsbane that's not as lethal." She held up the note. "He basically said mixed with whatever else is in that bottle we need to disperse into the water, into air ducts everywhere on campus."

"What will it do?" Kira asked,

She flipped her purple tipped hair over her shoulder which has Lydia mesmerized.

Malia looked at her. "It'll detect the supernatural. Anyone like us will get a rash on their body, not just any rash.

It'll look black dotted apparently."

Stiles looked back and watched this all with an unusual quietness.

"What are you thinking?" I asked him.

He took the time to gather himself. "That this will only detect who's supernatural. It won't stop the bad guys from taking people."

"We're now calling them the BMK."

Allison held her hand up. "The BMK?"

Lydia looked at her then answered, "The Black Market Kidnappers. That's what they're doing. Kidnapping supernaturals and selling them for parts,"

Cora nodded in agreement.

Stiles looked at her in confusion and interest. "Then why'd they keep you alive for so long?"

She stared at him then shrugged. "I was out of it most of the time I was there, when I wasn't out of my mind I blacked out most of it."

E2 Stiles stepped forward with his arms crossed. "So we do this and it helps narrow down potential targets. We tag them, pull them into what we're doing so they can prepare, help spread the word. The more paranoid they are the better. Travel in packs literally." He looked at E2 Allison. "How many weapons at you willing to part with?"

She met Isaac's eyes. "I'll call my Dad." She pulled out her phone and headed for the living room.

Isaac watched after her in worry.

With the phone to her ear, she shot him a smile not to worry.

He playfully rolled his eye which she laughed at.

E1 Stiles studied the interaction, then turned his gaze back to his Allison.

She walked up to him, their hands entwined.

Had to admit it was weird seeing my former girlfriend and best friend clearly into each other and not shy about displaying it.

E1 Lydia watched on as Allison and Stiles pecked each other's lips in a chaste fashion. She then looked at E2 Stiles as if he held the answer.

He went over to her and stood by her side. They seemed to find comfort in each other's presence.

E2 Lydia noticed their interaction with a hint of jealousy.

This was all so confusing.

E1 Scott blanked out for a few moments. When he came to he stared at Malia in longing and I couldn't be mad at him about it because had it been me in his place I could only imagine how much I'd miss her and I had no knowledge of our other lives.

He looked between the two of us, then looked down.

Allison came back to us. "He's on his way. With Derek and Peter."

Malia and her locked eyes, then they looked at Cora.

Cora pushed off the counter. "Did you tell them what happened to me?"

Allison shook her head. "Not exactly, I figured you'd want to do that."

She looked down.

Stiles moved closer to her. He placed a hand on her shoulder in support.

"Being that its broad daylight we can't do this until nightfall what are we going to do in the meantime?"

"Go to class?" Liam said. "Go on like nothing's changed, same as before."

Theo nodded in agreement. "We have to go work on our portfolio."

Liam glanced at E1 Theo and Liam for a few seconds, then moved for the door.

Theo went after him and they were gone.

"What about the rest of you?" I asked. "Obviously not all of us can be outside, especially if someone close to us is a spy and sees double."

Malia leaned against the counter. "I'll stay here and guard the doppelgangers. Not really up for class." Her gaze trailed to E1 Scott.

He met her eyes and nodded, the two of them had their own language already.

I kept in mind that we know knew in any universe we would be connected. Nothing against him, I liked him, he seemed cool, but if he made a move on her then he wouldn't like me very much. My thoughts went to what his Malia was like. Being a hypocrite, I felt that I'd have an instantaneous connection and if her Scott wasn't around subconsciously and physically I'd be drawn to her.

My hand ran down my face in an effort to control my jealousy nonetheless. I looked at the others when my pack followed me to the door, all except Malia.

We shared a look of trust, of understanding, of longing.

I had to turn my back on her because of her wishes when all I really wanted to do was tell everyone to get out so I could make her scream with my mouth this time.

I caught her smell of arousal just as I closed the door.

E2 THEO'S POV:

Walking together toward Photography could only be summed up into two words; Hella awkward.

Liam and I weren't necessarily fighting but the other versions of us were and that in turn put distance between us. When it seemed like his homophobic tendencies were crawling away because of us they crept back at the sign of trouble and drama. I wished I knew what was going on inside his head.

All I knew for sure was that he had a wall up against me and I hadn't even done anything. I could repeatedly punch E1 Theo for screwing over his Liam.

Last night I had the time to imagine what their lives must've been like. A version of Liam that wasn't afraid to emotionally get close to me. My Liam had no problem getting physical. His problem was that he liked it, maybe it was only when I did it that he liked it in his mind, and he didn't want to. He was afraid of the life he would lead as an announced gay man. He was afraid of the unfair stigmas people would have of him, of the rude remarks that could one day drive a person to kill themself because of self-hate, of the fear of never being able to climb out of the gay male box if he so chose he liked other things as well.

I didn't know how to show him it wasn't like that for me. I liked what I liked. And I liked him. A lot more than I should for someone who didn't want to like me. Not to be arrogant but I could have the pick of the litter and I chose him. Who knew why I wanted the thing I couldn't have. Well, we all did. Just so happened that my thing was Earth 2 Liam Dunbar. I knew enough of my feelings for him that if given the chance I wouldn't hurt him like how E1 Theo hurt his Liam.

Bottom line, my problem was that I knew I wasn't what Liam wanted or needed so I feared he'd never give me the chance when all I wanted to do was give him chances when he'd most likely break my heart. We hadn't had to go through a great deal of things together but just having someone to care about through all of this put my life and his in perspective. What if he had been the one taken that night instead of Lydia? Would we have gotten him back? Would I have gotten him back? I couldn't imagine how Stiles was doing it if Liam came back unable to bear my touch I'd have to rip someone's throat out.

"You're uncharacteristically quiet," He commented.

The door of the classroom came into view.

"I didn't think you wanted to talk."

He looked at me. "Taking pictures together surprisingly involves talking."

I couldn't tell what he wanted me to say so I kept quiet minus a grunt.

Once we were inside class Ms. Osbourne talked to us for about fifteen minutes then sent us out to venture off for our portfolios. Liam and I shared a look of interest that she was a person of interest that we had to keep a close eye on from the letter he wrote me the other day in class telling me something wasn't right. He recognized her scent from one of the crime scenes, which didn't really mean she was a culprit, but it didn't not mean she wasn't one.

We didn't speak for half an hour, nothing but the sound of our cameras snapping shots and the cacophony of campus life behind us. We migrated inside a hallway for more potential shots out of necessity because it was raining outside and there were only so many you could get that wasn't repetitive and without getting our cameras wet.

The blonde girl from the LGBTQ pride community booth approached Liam with a surprise poking of the shoulder. He mentioned her name was Noora.

He was lost in thought so he jumped.

She laughed. "Jumpy are we?" Her adorable Norwegian accent came through.

"Hey, sorry." He gestured to the flyer in her hands.

I couldn't read it upside down from this distance, but whatever it was brought a semi smile to his face when he leaned down to inspect it. I took the shot.

Noora seemed pleased that he liked it, then looked up at the sound of the camera in my hands that captured them.

"Hallo," She gave a red lipped smile.

I grinned. "Hello to you too."

She reddened.

Liam shook his head at me, then proceeded to go into details about what needed changes.

I was confused how he could put himself into the club but not in me. Metaphorically and literally.

A guy came down the hallway. His scent made me look up from my screen. It wasn't that of an animal but it was hot.

He gave me eyes that screamed let's fuck. Normally, I wouldn't be opposed but there was a little twink by the name of Dunbar down the hall that I'd been trying to finesse. He wasn't finessable. Not yet anyway.

The guy still stopped and held out a hand. "I'm Camden."

I took his hand. "Theo," I offered a grin.

"You want to get out of here?" He asked flat out.

My brow rose. "Normally I would but I'm babysitting a pup,"

We glanced down at Liam saying goodbye to Noora.

He took in the two of us talking in proximity, he turned away but I could smell his jealousy if even mild.

"That's the pup?" Camden checked him out, his gaze fell on Liam's ass.

Feeling territorial, I brought his attention back to me. "Are you busy later?" I asked even though I had no intention of doing anything with him. Well, if Liam was up to it...but I knew he wouldn't be. The guy was hot, he reminded me of someone else I couldn't put a finger on.

My ears picked up the sound of light laughter down the hall.

A brunette was up close and personal with Liam, her hand rested on his shoulder.

He grinned down at her.

Oh really?

His eyes met mine, there was a brief challenge in his.

Was he doing this to get a rise out of me?

He leaned forward to touch a few strands of her hair.

"Looks like the pup isn't taking up your attention so much anymore," Camden commented.

I looked back at him. Now trying to block out Liam's obvious display of flirtation several feet down from us I held out my hand.

"Give me your phone," I said.

He chuckled as he handed it to me, his hand brushed mine. "Maybe we could grab drinks sometime?"

I cracked a smirk when I gave him back his phone. "If you're interesting enough."

He nodded with a small laugh. "Oh, I think I already grabbed your interest." He backed away and he looked good doing it. "See you around, Raeken." He turned around to head down the hall.

Someone was cocky. I liked it. But not enough to put him above Liam.

Who was now playing tonsil hockey with the dark haired girl.

My heart plummeted into my stomach. I never thought I'd feel this off kilter from seeing him not only flirt with someone else but kiss them in front of me. Regardless of how little time we spent together or how little we still knew about each other I still felt the emotional punch in the gut.

His eyes looked into mine as he continued to kiss her.

Feeling my anger rise I stalked out of the building before I did something stupid like drag that girl by her hair out of here. I took the stairs as quickly as I could for fear of running back up and slamming Liam into the wall.

"Hey," He came after me.

I was already outside and not up for waiting for his bullshit to hit my ears.

"Theo,"

I wondered how long he'd follow me without a response on my end?

"Hey, I'm talking to you," He grabbed my elbow.

I jerked away. "What?" My animosity wasn't lost on him.

He stared at me. "What's wrong with you? We still have to work on the project."

"You can probably find what you're looking for down that girl's throat." I turned from him.

He grabbed my forearm. "Theo,"

Begrudgingly, I turned back to him. "You tried to make me jealous and it worked. Are you happy now?"

"I don't understand why you're upset. You were doing the same thing."

"Yeah," I shoved him back. "But I didn't kiss him now did I?"

He shoved me back with the same ferocity. "You gave him your number."

I righted myself, almost ready to come to actual blows if properly motivated.

"You know, I don't get you, Dunbar." I got into his space. "You say you're not comfortable with this, with us, with me, but you're all smiles for the LGBTQ club."

"I told you where I was with this," He threw at me.

"But I know from current evidence that that's not true," I referred to our other selves. Although they were fighting they were still without a doubt into each other and unafraid to share it.

With his silence, I let out everything I kept bottled inside the last few days.

"Look, I don't like that guy. I know you don't like that girl. You didn't even kiss her like you liked her. You were staring at me half the time."

His eyes narrowed, he glanced around to see if anyone was listening in. "Shut up." He stepped back a few paces.

"Why?" I demanded. "It's the truth. She can't give you what you need, what you want."

His brow arched. "And you can?"

My feet brought me in front of him again. "I am _trying_ , but you won't let me." My voice cracked under the emotion laced in it.

We stared at each other.

He broke it with a look down.

If he wasn't going to give me an answer straight while looking into my eyes then I had nothing more to say to him.

"We have a project to finish." He called after me.

"Finish it yourself." I threw over my shoulder. "Matter fact, finish yourself off until further notice." I stormed off, not caring who heard the tail end of our argument.

I heard him sigh and let out a curse under his breath.

E1 LIAM'S POV:

Seeing Isaac beaten to a pulp and in the middle of our mess again sprouted the guilt I tried to push down for keeping Theo's secret. He wasn't on our side all the way so why was I keeping it for him?

I refused to acknowledge any feelings I had for him. He wasn't a good person.

My eyes squeezed shut at a headache that wouldn't go away.

Theo was looking out for Theo. I got it, his life had been pretty shitty up until recently, like a constant shit storm. I believed him when he said the only thing that pulled him out was me. Us.

Mom would love him. Hell, she already liked him more than me. His care package was grade A while mine was below average. I knew he needed the nurturing so I didn't mind at the time but I grew more upset with him the more I thought about how he manipulated all of us and made my mom care about him. She was a sweet middle aged lady that didn't deserve that kind of slap in the face and if I decided to tell her everything, and I mean everything, she would feel the sting of Theo's slap of betrayal just as I had.

I was bursting at the seams to deliver the news to Scott. Sure, I'd feel even more like an asshole after the fact but I'd do my best to protect Theo long enough for him to get away. We needed to get Malia back and stop Deucalion once and for all. For the life of me, I couldn't understand why he saw Theo as like a son when Theo literally couldn't stand his guts now.

The problem was that I didn't understand Theo. Or where we'd end up after this all played out. If things were different I would've loved to fantasize about us frolicking off into the sunset - and I could see why I was repeatedly called a twink - but things weren't different so I had to man up and make the hard decisions to put the pack first over my heart.

I lowered my gaze to the floor. I hated that even still subconsciously I knew Theo was my heart even after everything he'd done. I didn't want him to be dammit.

Seeing E2 Thiam interact helped a lot to keep me in check.

Scott gathered around our pack while the others talked amongst themselves.

"Scott," I called, my throat sank to my stomach. "Can I talk to you?"

He nodded and we moved toward a more private section, as private as you could be with a bunch of supernatural creatures in one room with amplified hearing.

"What's up?" He asked.

My sweaty hands ran down my jeans. "Uh," I cleared my throat. "About earlier..."

I thought back to when Theo helped me study for Psych when he helped me with my Lacrosse when he kissed me and made me cum. When he moved out, which I now knew was an attempt to distance us so I wouldn't get _as_ hurt. As crappy as things played out I couldn't deny he had done a great deal to not hurt me.

My instinct to protect Theo pulled me in one direction while my duty to the pack, to Scott pulled me in another.

"Liam?"

My eyes darted to Theo who was enveloped in a conversation with Stiles and Lydia.

"Liam?" Scott asked again.

I blinked several times to clear my headspace but it didn't work. Perspiration dotted my skin. "About..."

Theo met my gaze. He wanted to smile but between us, he didn't have a reason to.

Scott's hand came to my shoulder. "Maybe you should lay down."

My head shook.

No, I could do this. I had to help Malia. She'd do anything to protect any of us, she'd shown that.

Theo assessed the situation and deduced that I was about to out him. He didn't even look surprised, just disappointed, but accepting of his fate.

"I know where we can-"

E2 Theo bumped into my side. His arm hung over my shoulder. "Where we can start looking for clues on the big bads." His grip tightened in warning. "You suggest the sight of the breach right?" He looked down at me with heavy eyes.

It was clear that I was visibly uncomfortable under his touch, but Scott and everyone probably figured it was because of the rift between my Theo and me.

Scott looked to me for confirmation because he was smart enough to know something else was bothering me.

Even so, I nodded. "Yeah, that's it."

My eyes slid to my Theo's.

There was reprieve in his and he knew that his only saving grace was his counterpart saving his ass.

"Let me show you something in my room," He tugged me along.

I went because I didn't want to make a scene.

"You're in the habit of putting your foot in your mouth I can tell." He muttered. He walked over to his extensive book collection, crossed the room to hand me a book.

"What's this?" I turned it over in my hand.

He sat on his bed, then patted the spot beside him.

With a roll of my eyes, I followed.

Our body heat tapped into each other's and I had to scoot over a bit in fear I'd get aroused.

"One of my favorite books. A love story of sorts, unconventional, toxic even, but prevailing. A powerful theme in it is not giving up on people. As humans, as human as we can be, we want to give people chances but when they hurt us we want to dump them like yesterday's trash." He tapped the hardcover. "The love the two characters share in this book demonstrates what happens when you give up on people versus what happens when you don't." His eyes assessed mine. "Some people aren't worth holding onto but if I know half of what you've been through then I know you'd regret giving up this time." He nodded toward the door.

My eyes narrowed. "He talked to you about us?"

He nodded. "Told me everything."

"And you're okay with it."

He sighed. "Okay is a strong word. Understanding is better. Tolerant." He stared forward. "But as a Theo that doesn't have the same emotionally available Liam as he does I have to side with him. You're worth the wait." His eyes turned to mine. "He's not going to give up on you because he needs you whether he says it or not." His unsaid words hung through the air. 'He's damaged and you can help fix him'.

"That's not fair."

"Maybe not," He shrugged. "But it's the right thing to do." He patted my knee then headed for the door.

E1 SCOTT'S POV:

I jumped awake off the couch from my nap with my clothes soaked through from sweat. My mind immediately recalled the reason for my current state. What I wanted so desperately to be a nightmare was nothing of the sort. I knew in my heart that it had been a memory.

A memory of Malia dying. None of this made sense. How could she die then we ended up engaged and assumably married? Was that the several year's separation they experienced? I was so confused.

Being separate on our Earth was one thing but being separated by Earths was another. I felt suffocated here, restricted, literally unable to be happy. There was no happiness here for me long term because there was only one Malia and she didn't fit me in all the ways that mattered.

I didn't want to go back on my word of helping these people out, but I had to get back. I had to find her and show her that no part of me would ever let her go. I had to make sure that her fate never became her original's.

Theo's room door opened. "We're leaving in ten."

I nodded.

For a few moments I mentally composed myself then knocked on the guest room door Kira was staying in then I remembered she was with the girls. So she was probably in Heaven.

E2 MALIA'S POV:

"Show me the titties," E1 Kira threw her hands in the air as the music thumped throughout our Kira's apartment.

Both Lydia's laughed but only one blushed.

My eyes went to Kira's.

She smirked and winked.

We all danced a bit longer then exhausted on all ends we gathered in a circle like it was fact that we were doing a braiding circle. To unknowing ears, it sounded kinky but it wasn't. We literally just sat in a big circle to braid each other's hair.

I was braiding Cora's while she braided E2 Lydia's that braided E2 - You know what, we all just braided each other's hair.

"So Allison," I spoke up. "What's it like to kiss Stiles?"

"Eww," Our Allison made a face.

"Amazingly hot." Their Allison beamed.

They looked at each other and laughed.

"What's it like to kiss Isaac?" She asked.

E2 Allison blushed. "Hot."

"Ohhh, I have a fun game idea." Maybe it wasn't a good idea but I was still gonna share it. "What if we played the kissing game. Not together but like raise your hand if you've kiss so and so."

"Hard pass." E1 Kira said. "That's bound to get messy. We've literally all kissed each other in some shape or form."

"No," E1 Lydia opposed. "I think it would be fun. It's not like we can take it back."

E2 Kira sighed. "Fine. Who's going first?"

I had a fun one. "Raise your hand if you've kissed Scott." I raised my hand.

E2 Allison raised her hand along with E1 Kira.

We all looked at her in speculation.

She shrugged. "It was in another life. I still like pussy." She sent me a wink.

I winked back.

She paused.

I chuckled.

My Kira pulled on my hair. "That's not funny."

"Ow," I turned around to leer at her. "Fucking chill."

She gave me a passive smile that meant cut the shit.

"Who's next?" I asked.

Allison looked at her E1 counterpart. "Did you kiss Isaac there?"

E1 Allison shook her head. "We never got that far. He only showed interest to get me to let my guard down and kidnap me."

Their Kira raised her hand. "We dated in the other life." She gave another sheepish look.

"You were getting tons of dick, huh?" My Kira asked.

` She gave her the finger.

We all laughed.

"That's all the boys, at least the straight ones anyway," Lydia prompted. "So who's kissed girls?"

E1 Kira raised her hand again.

We all died of laughter.

"What?" She threw a piece of chocolate at Lydia. "I remember my Malia kissed me in a club once, wasn't serious. It was fun."

Sooner or later we all ended with popcorn and chocolate hands as we laid about on each other, the room filled with our contagious laughter. It was weird to basically hear echoes of laughter. Each person had a faint distinction but if not closely monitored it would go undetected. I wondered what E1 Malia's laugh sounded like. What made her laugh? She sounded like a woman worth looking up to. I wanted to meet her, but I wasn't sure that was possible just yet.

The front door opened and in walked the boys.

"Well, what do we have here?" Theo asked as he leaned in the doorway and smirked at us. "Ladies,"

There was a collective eye roll.

E1 Liam danced over and plopped down beside his Kira. He played with some of her braids.

"No one braid his hair." His Theo added.

"It's time to divide and conquer," Scott said. "You guys ready?"

My eyes turned blue.

He gave a knowing nod. "Then let's go."

"I'm going to stay and look after Isaac if that's okay," Cora announced.

We nodded in approval. After learning what he'd done none of us really wanted to do it but we did out of human decency.

Scott and I agreed with our eyes that E1 Scott could use a little more time with me. He was a sulky one. Given the circumstances, I could understand.

We had smaller bottles of the divided agent to drop into the air ducts and water systems. We didn't know a damn thing about either but we figured we'd make due with what we could figure out on the spot. If not we had a backup.

"You look like the cat ate the canary," I told him.

He stayed quiet.

I looked around the halls. "You could talk to me, you know that, right?" I picked the lock to the room that held the water heater for the building.

He let out a sigh. "I had a nightmare, a memory really, about Malia's death from the other life." His eyes met mine. "I don't know what it means, how we ended up together, or how I stop it from happening this time around."

I hated to say it but, "What if you're not meant to stop it?"

"No," His head shook. "I don't accept that. We've been through too much, we've sacrificed too much to not have our version of happily ever after."

My shoulders shrugged. "What if you die instead?"

He stilled. "I hadn't thought of that."

To cut down on time we stuck to buildings on the main campus so we could leave in teams of two. No one was going off by themselves when the risk of losing someone was too great.

"Can you show me how to do that? The memory sharing thing."

He looked at me.

"Scott wants to know too."

"Ah," He nodded. "He got jealous."

A small grin pulled at my face. "Why do you say that?"

His eyes took me in with restrained attraction and hesitation. "Because I would've."

We gazed at each other. I recalled how my Scott's hand had expertly brought me to climax in the elevator earlier. This Scott looked more than capable of doing so, just as kinky I hoped. A man with that much power and a woman like me that wasn't as willing to submit to just anyone, that had to lead to some great sex I could imagine. Had they? I mean, they were full on in love with each other and it more often than not required some kind of intimate connection.

He neared. "Yes, we have." His body heat wrapped around me in a sinful caress. "And yes," His breath tickled the hairs on the back of my neck, making my pussy tingle. "We fuck hard."

Oh, God.

I clenched under the long awaited promise from day one that I wanted to constantly ride Scott out of his mind.

I turned my head to the side, a little breathless.

E1 Scott leaned down the few inches.

Our mouths were close enough to press into each others. We knew we shouldn't but the pull was so great. The fact that I was just getting on Scott about this nailed me in place. There had to be some chemical/cosmic reason why we wanted to do each other knowing it'd hurt two of the people we cared about the most.

"It must be some type of cosmic pull," He agreed as he took a step back.

I turned around. "Yeah," I waved off or attempted but I couldn't deny that I was a little hurt and disappointed.

He stared at me, then averted his eyes. "I can't stop thinking about how I left her."

"From what I understand there was nothing you could do, right?"

His head shook. "I can find her, I know I can." He sighed. "I just can't do it here."

I knew what he was about to say and I honestly agreed with him. He should go back.

"What are you two doing?" Theo asked with Liam in tow.

We jumped.

"I thought you were taking the building next to us," I said, a little embarrassed and wondering how much they heard.

Liam went to stand by Scott. "We did. Theo chose to do it by himself without any help." His tone a little bitter.

Theo let it roll off his shoulders so he could focus on doing what we couldn't. "What can I say? I work better alone." His voice clipped, a direct dig at Liam.

I looked at the Beta to ask with my eyes what was wrong with them.

He only dismissed it with a shake of his head and crossed his arms.

"Glad to see nothing's changed between you two," Scott said. "You still fight like an old married couple on any Earth I see."

We grinned at each other.

From what I could tell, Liam had all these preconceived notions about how terrible being openly gay was so he wouldn't allow himself to acknowledge that he was and in the process, he kept pushing and pulling Theo like a rag doll because he didn't know how to commit to the feelings that swirled inside him. I say this knowing exactly who Theo has been in the past, he wouldn't care in the slightest if he did not care about Liam strongly.

A few minutes passed before Theo was done and we communicated with the others to see if they were successful yet. Most of everyone wasn't so instead of using all of what we had we decided to only pump it through a few buildings to see if it actually worked.

When we all gathered back together it just spilled out of my mouth, "Scott's gotta go home, back to his Earth."

His eyes fell heavy on me.

I looked into his. "What we need them for is long term and we can't ask him to stay, not when he's needed over there."

He gave me a look of solemn appreciation.

There was a silence. His pack didn't know whether to follow him or fulfill their promise to us.

His Kira stepped out of the bunch. "I'll go with you. It's getting a bit too twincesty for me," She glanced around. "No offense."

Her and Scott shared a look of silent communication. They seemed fairly tight from what I've seen. I thought it was cute.

Their Lydia shook her head. "No, I'll go. There doesn't need to be two Banshees. If they come up with a half cocked plan I need to be there to warn them. Besides," She rested a hand on Kira's shoulder. "You've started taking care of Isaac, you've got to finish it."

Kira glared at her. "All I did was check on him." She pointed a silver ringed finger at her supposed sister and electricity zapped the strawberry blonde.

Scott shook his head at the girls.

I looked back at my Scott.

He looked up from his phone, an apology already in his eyes.

"What?" I asked.

He pocketed his phone. "There's been a robbery at the shop." He gestured behind us. "I've got to go."

"Now?" I demanded.

"Let him go," My Allison said. "We can handle this." She fought a yawn.

Isaac put an arm around her. "They can handle this, you've got to hit the hay."

I nodded. "Yeah, listen to Scarf Boy."

He gave me a tight grin but it was all in good fun.

"Night guys," They went off to assumably go to sleep but that could've been an excuse to go screw each other's brains out.

My Scott pulled me into a hug. "Sorry, I'll see you back at the room."

"We talked about that." I didn't mean to say it in a bitchy way but that's how it came out.

He gave me a look of knowing I was experiencing a lot so he let it roll off his back. He still planted a kiss on my cheek. "Keep me updated," He went over to quickly say his goodbyes to E1 Scott and Lydia with a salty Kira off to the side.

We decided not all of us needed to be there for Scott and Lydia's departure into the breach so his Kira, Stiles, and my Lydia came along. Everyone else was pooped.

There was fear that we wouldn't be able to find it and it did take some time because we were off by a few city limits, but at last, it appeared for us.

I was half tempted to speed up significantly and drive the car through just to see what would happen but instead, I pulled off to the side of the road.

We all got out and stood a few feet before the electrified open breach. It was that of science fiction. I couldn't take my eyes off of it.

"Stop feeling guilty," Kira told Scott. "We've got this. I only wish I could come back to smack the taste out of Kylie's mouth."

His forehead creased. "For what?"

She shrugged. "For speaking?"

He gave a tired laugh, then hugged her. When he moved for me I actually teared up.

"Don't go soft on me, McCall." I patted his back to deduce the sentiment in our embrace, but it was still there.

"Shut up." He muttered.

I allowed myself to sink into the hug because there was a good chance that we'd never see each other again. If something so happened to the breaches we had no way of contact back and forth.

Stiles cleared his throat. "Are you done?"

I still couldn't get over the fact that Stiles, scraggly, scrawny, weak but kind hearted Stiles was their Hunter. He moved with power and intellect like he was always plotting an escape.

We stared at him.

His hand raised. "I just want my hug."

They moved to each other with huge smiles. They indeed did slap each other's back in that bro way they felt they had to in order to convey masculinity while being emotional.

"You should probably tell Argent about Allison being here because we forget to relay the message."

I laughed. "He's going to kill you."

Scott nodded. "Yeah."

It was time for E1 Lydia and Kira to say their goodbyes. Only they didn't speak. Their hands rested on top of each other's in the air and they visibly saddened as if they were waiting for another hand.

I swallowed the lump of misery they so obviously felt in the absence of their other sister. So I did what felt natural.

My hand went on top of theirs.

They looked at me as if they were about to cry.

Lydia blinked rapidly, then let her long curtain of hair cover her face.

Kira sniffed and wiped her hand over her nose.

"We should probably go before someone sees two Lydia's in the same place," Scott suggested.

We shared a parting look of sadness mixed with joy.

E1 Lydia looked back at her Stiles. She held her hand up to do the Shaka, hang ten, sign.

He did it back with worry in his eyes. "Be careful."

She gave a nod.

Scott and her grabbed each other's hand, then jumped through. There were here one second and gone another. Had we not had most of their pack here I don't think I would've believed it.

"You know, the twincest comment was a joke, right?" Kira announced.

We looked at her.

"What, it was." She defended on the way back to the car.

E2 LIAM'S POV:

To say the least, today had been hands down one of the most awkward and awful days of my life. On top of the obvious going on around us, I'd been a douche to Theo. I was too stubborn to admit it earlier but I couldn't help but feel awful.

I shouldn't be required to take things at his pace and be where he wanted me to be but I also knew that Theo wasn't the type of person to constantly put up with someone's else's crap so the fact that he did with me spoke volumes. And I overheard his conversation with E1 Liam earlier. I wasn't sure what it all meant between them but I knew if I gave up on what he had now then I'd forever be closeted and not willing to explore this side of me.

He was right earlier. I didn't enjoy kissing that girl. The only reason I kissed her was because she looked like Hayden and I figured if I loved Hayden once I had to be interested in that girl, which I wasn't.

Speaking of, I needed to see her. We hadn't seen much of each other lately. When we split she chose to not be a part of the pack as much until she eventually wasn't at all. Sad it came to that.

Some of the E1 crew were staying at his apartment. I wasn't keen on going back to mine just yet. Not until I cleared the air. So I made a peace offering snack.

Like an idiot, I hesitated by his open bedroom door. I had never been in here before and I was kind of jealous that other Liam had before me. It was neat, lots of browns and blacks with some red here and there. He had books for days lining the walls with paintings and photographs. It was cozy. It was him.

I ventured out onto the small balcony section he had by his room with a bowl of popcorn. Literally, all the balcony consisted of was a black iron railing to keep anyone from opening the door on the fourth level and falling to their possible death.

He kept his gaze on the moon before us but I knew he wondered why I was still here when I didn't have to be. He eventually turned around to lean an arm against the railing and face me. His eyes went back and forth between me and bowl.

I held the bowl up. "I like popcorn," I said, hoping he knew what I meant. It wasn't that long ago that I admitted I missed him when some of us went back to Beacon Hills to get Melissa to help Malia's infection. We sat on his couch. We ate popcorn. We had a conversation similar to this one.

"I like popcorn too." His eyes gazed into mine, needing clarification on my end.

A sigh left my mouth. "I need time, Theo. I'm not like you. I can't just jump into this with no fucks given." I went quiet for a few moments. "I wish I could." My voice substantially quieter.

A light buzzing hit my ears as a firefly came into view. It flew past me and into Theo's territory.

I made a face at it.

"You don't like bugs?" He cracked a grin as he held out a hand for it.

It crawled over his hand.

"No," I leaned away. "Kill it."

He chuckled. "I'm not in the business of killing things." He adored the light up bug.

"Well, I'm out." I started for the door.

He pulled me back. He opened his hand and waited for the firefly to move to the center of his palm, then he crushed it. "There," He looked at me. "It's dead now. Will you stay?"

My brow rose. "What happened to taking things slow?" I chewed on some popcorn.

"We can take things as slow as you want, I still want to cuddle with you."

I had to agree that that sounded right for our timing. Plus being wrapped up a ripped guy's arms wasn't the worst way to feel safe in our current predicament. Silly enough, I did feel safe in Theo's presence, like he'd protect me at every cost.

So in the spirit of taking things slow and not being such a closed off bastard to him, I allowed my face to break into a shy smile. "I'd like that actually."

The light that filled his eyes was enough to make me want to say yes to more things, but maybe in due time.

E2 MALIA'S POV:

As soon as the mailroom opened the next morning Stiles and I was there. He was eagerly waiting on a package from his dad. Really I just wanted food from the United Commons and because I was a good friend I agreed to get up this early to talk with Stiles.

"I'm just confused, Malia."

Normally, I'd probably smack Stiles one good time to get some sense into him but given I was in his place the last two days I knew he had to be a mess internally. He had our Lydia pull away from him physically and emotionally, understandably so only to see E1 Stiles and Allison happy as clams while their Lydia essentially pinned in silence for her Stiles. She was good at hiding it so I'll give her that.

"So what do you want me to tell you? Lydia may be into you, I'm not sure, but for now, she's into someone else."

He huffed as we sat on the stairs of the mailroom. "I know. I know I shouldn't wait around for someone that's never going to give me the time of day in the way I want but after seeing the others how I can give up on us when I witnessed _her_ having feelings for me?"

It would be hypocritical of me to say that E1 Lydia didn't have feelings for him necessarily but I didn't know if that were true.

So I said, "With everything going on do you really want to waste what could be your last days waiting around or do you want to find someone else that wants your attention?" I bit into my breakfast sandwich.

"Too bad I don't know anyone of that nature." He muttered.

My eyes rolled. "Yeah, too bad." My sarcasm wasn't lost on him but he didn't acknowledge it.

We finished our breakfast then went to his mailbox.

He got all excited and then deflated when there was nothing in there.

My hand patted his shoulder. "There there."

"Oh, bite me, Tate."

I laughed as I nonchalantly checked mine even though I was sure there was nothing in there.

"Hey, that's not fair." He complained about the slip of paper sitting in the metal cabinet. "You always get packages."

I fixed him with a stare.

"Shutting up."

We walked over to the counter to receive another box.

It was labeled from Peter so it could be anything. But he was arriving with the other's within the next few hours so why send a package overnight?

Not wanting to overthink it because it was Peter Stiles and I went our separate ways. I went to my morning class.

Why did I go to my morning class? I wasn't focused, I was itchy the entire time, and I wanted to crawl back into bed. I couldn't help but worry that the robbery at Scott's job was a message even though he assured me over the phone when he got back that it wasn't.

Once back at Theo's apartment I slid the package onto the counter, grabbed a glass of apple juice because why the fuck not, and closed my eyes at the taste.

"Morning," Liam came out with bedhead and a smile on his face.

My brow arched. "Someone's chipper," I smirked. "Get a little action last night?"

My insinuation didn't even cause his smile to falter.

Theo waltzed into the room in nothing but his boxers briefs, an obvious erection a good foot before him. "Something like that." He gazed down at Liam as he poured two glasses of OJ.

Liam's blush was the cutest thing I'd seen yet today.

E1 Kira stumbled into the kitchen like a zombie. "Something like that," She mocked. "I couldn't sleep on the account of you two yapping all night. 'Oh, Theo. I love the way your hair flips in the moonlight'." Her voice a high pitch to imitate Liam. "'I know, Liam. I know.'." It lowered to impersonate Theo.

I choked on my apple juice.

Theo gave her an amused grin. "How about you go get some pussy and stop annoying us?"

She turned her almond shaped eyes on me with suggestion. "I'm trying to,"

I moved toward her. "Honey, you wouldn't be able to go back to your Earth after tasting me," I loomed over her, not afraid in the slightest of her sexual advances, whether they were lighthearted or not.

Her eyes traveled to my mouth and back up to mine. "You're probably right." She backed away with her hands raised.

"I know I am," I teased.

Liam cleared his throat. "What's in the box?"

I produced a claw. "Not sure." I sliced open the box to find another black case, this time a lot thicker and wider.

"Maybe it's old school pornos," He suggested.

Theo looked at him. "Who still calls them pornos?"

He blushed again.

I opened the lid and immediately jumped back with a scream.

Kira caught me. "What the hell?"

The stench of death and a rotten animal filled the air as we took in the mutilated coyote packed in the box.

"That's definitely not from Peter," Theo said. He rushed forward and snatched the note off the animal's ear. "'You can't stop what's coming for you'." He met my eyes. "It's addressed to you, Malia."

I stared on in horror at one of my own brutally murdered just to send me a message. That The BMK wanted me dead.

Our phones went off that another body had been found and staged on campus. A body belonging to a Hayden Romero.

Liam stared at his phone.

"Wasn't she your first girlfr-" Theo was cut off by the sound of Liam crushing his phone in his hand.

E1 SCOTT'S POV:

Lydia and I arrived back on our Earth hand in hand while we smacked into the cement of the road.

"Are you okay?" I surveyed her.

She nodded.

We stood, knowing we had a long stretch of a walk ahead of us. Our phones while now back in the right frequency were of no use.

"Hey, thanks for coming back with me," I told her.

She shook her head. "It was weird being there with-" She cut herself off.

"With Stiles?"

Her jade eyes met mine and she nodded. "Besides, I meant what I said. I don't trust you and Peter not to do something stupid when it comes to Malia. You especially."

"Haha," I said sarcastically even though I laughed.

She grinned.

Our momentary lightness faded.

"I miss her," I said, even though it wasn't a secret.

She looked at me. "Me too."

In that moment I remembered how much I valued Lydia's friendship in the other life.

Finally back near campus, Lydia said she was going to stay at Malia's apartment. I knew it was out of needing something close of her's.

I headed back to my apartment to find Peter baking cookies and Kylie sulking on the couch.

She rushed forward to hug me tight. "I'm so glad you're back. Peter is the worst."

"I'm right here," He moved toward us.

She sighed. "I know."

He glanced behind me. "That was a quick trip."

"Well, Lydia and I came back early. The others are still there helping."

He nodded. "I have good news and bad news. Which do you want first?"

"Just tell me, Peter."

"Argent has a lead, the bad news is their dead. All of them."

I wasn't too torn up about it because it hadn't really changed anything.

"There's more." He moved closer. "Malia's DNA was at the crime scene, not much considering it went up in flames. But it was definitely hers."

Worry filled me. "Any lead if she's okay?"

He looked at Kylie. "Well, there was footage salvaged by Argent. She's on tape killing some Hunters."

My eyes glanced at Kylie's. "Was it bad?"

She nodded, her jaw clenched.

"That's not the worst part,"

What could be worst than Malia going off with Deucalion and killing for him?

"Even if we could find out where she was staying with him through logarithms we can't track them. Something I suspected was true, he has a Witch with him. She's maintaining tracking wards so that not only can we not find them but even if we did we couldn't remember how to get there."

My head hurt. A big sigh left me.

"What more could go wrong?"

They looked at each other again.

Kylie stepped forward. "Actually, your dad is here," She gestured toward to the door. "He went out for dinner and he should be back any minute. We kind of told him everything."

"You what?" I moved for Peter.

Kylie's hand stopped on my chest. Her green eyes stared into mine with the hope of peace. Much like Malia's.

My subdued rage at him surfaced on top of everything else and I reached over Kylie to crack my fist into Peter's jaw. "I didn't want him involved in this! He's the only parent I have left!"

He shoved me back. "And Malia's the only daughter I have!"

Kylie, even though she didn't like Peter all that much looked to him like another father figure because he was her sister's father figure, stared at him in obvious hurt.

He realized what he said and gave his best version of an apologetic look at her, then his eyes settled on me. "Your father is an FBI agent, if anyone can help us with more resources it's him. You have to see that, Scott."

"He's my father, you want me to just put his life on the line?"

He leveled me with a glare. "From what I gathered you were willing to give up _everything_ for her. Has something changed that I need to know about?"

Of course, it hadn't.

"We need him," Kylie forced her way back in between us.

My chest rose and fell in irritation. I gazed down at Kylie in peace. I glared at Peter. "She," I pointed at Kylie. "Is the only reason I'm not throwing you through the window right now."

The door opened. "Scott," My dad froze when he saw me. "I didn't think you'd be back so soon."

I shrugged. "I couldn't stay when I couldn't stop thinking about Malia."

He nodded.

"Peter, out."

He didn't seem surprised.

Kylie gestured toward herself.

My head shook.

Peter closed the door behind him.

My dad gave me a fatherly disappointed look. "Why didn't you tell me about all of this?"

Kylie backed out of the room. The sounds of her practicing against the punching bag Peter must've bought her filled the room.

"Scott?" He called again.

"Why do you think, dad? I just got you back, we're still working on us, and I don't want to lose you like how I lost mom."

He huffed. "You're not going to lose me, son."

My eyes rolled. "Really? Because there's a psychopath that wants to either kill me and all my friends or have us join him, whichever one comes first he's okay with. He's got Malia wrapped around his finger and there's nothing I can do about it because we _can't_ find them. I can't find Malia.." I fumed.

He nodded in understanding as he pulled me in for a hug. "I can't imagine what you're going through, what you've been going through...But it'll get better."

Hot tears hit my eyes and I didn't know whether to scream, cry, or maniacally laugh.

When I pulled away we talked and talked for hours until he was pooped and I went to check on Kylie after she got out of the shower.

Her almost black hair was wet and stringy as she towel put it back into a loose bun.

I stayed in the doorway until she gave me a knowing look and I went to flop down on her bed with a heavy breath.

She placed her unfinished plate of food on the bedside table. "What was she like?"

My arm went over my eyes. "I'm glad you didn't go. It would've been hard."

She sat Indian style beside me. "I've been practicing nonstop."

I rested my arm behind my head to take one of her hands in mine. "You're not wrapping your knuckles properly." They were bruised and torn.

"I'm not wrapping them at all," She took her hand back. "The pain helps me focus." She said when I gave her a worried look. "I've got to feel something even if it's pain or I won't feel anything at all."

My eyes closed. "You're becoming a wise one."

She chuckled. "I wouldn't go that far. In the words of Stiles, 'I'm just a cockroach'."

"You know he only said that to push you further, right?"

"Yeah, I know. But it's true. It's humbling. It gives me something to work toward, not being a cockroach anymore."

E1 MALIA'S POV:

What was the Desert Wolf doing in front of me?

I stepped to the side to make sure my eyes didn't deceive me. A warning growl ripped through my throat. I readied myself for a fight.

"Here to finish the job?"

She stepped a black boot toward me. "Oh no, sweetie. I'm here to get the family back together." She produced a gun. "But I'm going to need your cooperation first." She shot a dart into me.

My mind clouded while my legs felt unable to support me.

The car door opened.

"Did you have to do that?" Deucalion asked.

I tumbled to the ground with a rage that died out with my consciousness.

A/N: Apologies for the long wait. I've been working open to closed almost everyday for three weeks straight with no days off cuz I'm saving up for an apartment and I got a promotion at Draft and a second job at a waffle place called Iron. Good ass waffles.

Anyway, if y'all got confused it's okay cuz Summer and I got confused reading each other's drafts. It can't really be helped. Even watching The Flash where Cisco dumbs it down for us I'm like who's the time remnant and which one is our "original" Barry? Lol Just let us know what's confusing you and how you liked this chapter. It would mean a lot


	22. Tessa

The song for this chapter is Steve Jablonsky - Tessa (The Scalia fanvid inspiration for this was Scott & Malia | The werewolf & the werecoyote (3x14-6x20) By AriaTate on YouTube).

LYDIA'S POV:

By the time I wake up from my alarm my sheets are soaked through. Another night terror came for the third night in a row. These dreams of killing, of my liking it, of another me out there liking it was the only possibility I could think off. I was hesitant to tell the others because I didn't want them to think there was an evil version of me out there. The other possibility was that it wasn't another version of me out there that were capable of these horrible acts and that it was me I was seeing. Not me now but me in the future, who knew how near.

To wash off the grime I hopped in the shower then quickly got dressed for my training with Kylie.

My problem was that I was focusing on the wrong things; figure out what the dreams meant or how I was supposed to feel about Stiles and I on Earth Two.

I just needed to give all my attention to helping find Malia. And if helping her kid sister get stronger was going to help us get there faster then so be it.

I dressed in workout leggings and a black tank.

On my way out of my room I noticed a black cat perched in Malia's window, which was funny considering the window hadn't been open last night after I spent some time in there, rearranging her things. How the hell did it get in here? Wasn't that a bad omen?

There was a knock on the front door that startled me.

I grabbed my water bottle as if it'd be some great weapon. My feet carefully treaded toward the door, my hands pressed against the flat surface so I could peep out to survey the intruder.

Kylie stood within view.

I unlocked the door.

She wore an outfit similar to mine.

"What are you doing here?"

Her arms were folded behind her back. "Ready to train." Those green eyes reminded me of mine in more ways than one lately as they stared at me head on.

I closed the door behind me, my hands raked my long hair into a ponytail. "You can't wait for Stiles to get back?"

There was no hatred in my heart toward the girl and I could completely understand where she came from with her past actions, you'd have to be a sociopath not to, but I didn't have the time to sit here and babysit the very reason my sister was with an actual sociopath.

"Why should I wait for Stiles when you're here? Aren't you just as capable of training me as him, if not more?" She followed, her tone short and almost professional.

I side glanced at her.

Of course she was right, but did I have the patience and strategic skill to properly direct and guide her aggression on the level Stiles did? Probably not.

"I can tell from your silence that that's a no." She stalked off in another direction. "Fine, I'll just train myself." She said through clenched teeth. She ran off.

My head shook.

I couldn't just let her go. She was Malia's sister after all. And she was trying to right her wrongs in the only way she knew how. So who was I repress her? How was I teaching her that women were just as capable as men in every area by waiting for a man to come back and show her how she was going to be useful?

I ran after her until I was running beside her. She wasn't very fast, maybe a byproduct of little activity growing up under Deucalion's thumb. I wanted to give her the necessary push, the hardness that Stiles could deliver on, but that wasn't my way of teaching. Not wanting her to be accustomed to running forever, I showed her some grappling moves once we got to a local track. They weren't easy to manage at first but she eventually got them down enough that when I attacked her our water break she could pin me to the ground.

My hand tapped her forearm.

She let me go.

"I'm impressed," I sat up beside her and took a gulp of my water.

Her dark hair plastered to the side of her face from her loose bun. "You shouldn't be. I'm not anything special."

A part of me that I wasn't aware of before broke for the girl that sat before me. I wouldn't want to know what was inside her mind but I could take a wild guess and say it was a concoction of a lifeless depression with a singular mission as her only drive to keep going.

"Never say that again." I told her with a heaviness to my words.

She turned her eyes on me in somewhat of a shock. Because she didn't think I cared. She thought no one cared. The sad truth was she was half right. We cared to an extent, enough for us to use her to get Malia back, but so far I can see how her self worth that is generally determined by the people you surround yourself with which would be us in her case, wasn't very high.

She rose to her feet. "I'll stop saying it when we get my sister back and take down Deucalion." She sprinted away.

A few huffs later we were back at the apartment.

I could see that she didn't want to head back to Scott's by the way she lingered at the door when I opened it, so I asked, "You want to come in?"

She paused, then eventually nodded.

"You can get some of your sister's clothes if you want to shower."

Her gaze circled around the place before she trailed.

I went to clean up myself. When I came out I hadn't expected Kylie to be playing with a cat, the black cat from earlier.

"What is this little one still doing here?" I bent down to pet its head.

"The name on the tag says Allie Cat." Kylie actually smiled as she held her. "I think she's cute."

Allie Cat purred, her yellowish green eyes closed under our petting.

"She's obviously not a street cat," I inspected her tag. "So who do you belong to?"

There was no address on the back, no last name, no phone number to call. Nothing.

"We get to keep her," Kylie cheered.

My head shook. "No, we can't. We have to find out who she belongs to and return her."

She held up Allie Cat's paws in the air. "She clearly doesn't want to be with whoever had her before. She found us."

I made a noise in the back of my throat, then said, "We can't keep her."

Allie Cat purred as Kylie's hand softly petted her, eyes of feline looked between us.

"I'll keep her company until further notice," She picked her up and placed her in her lap.

I don't know what pushed me to do so but I reached out to push her hair back behind her ear.

"You know, you're a natural beauty but I could really make you shine if you wanted with a little makeup. Curl your hair even."

Her green eyes met mine. "What do I need to look pretty for? I'm here to fight a battle, to save my sister, and to stop a monster. If I was really concerned with looking pretty do you think I would've killed myself?"

I suppose she had a solid point. It was just sad, not that she couldn't find it in her heart to be vain but because she had little will to live outside of this mission. I worried after it was completed or if something went wrong what would she have after that.

MALIA'S POV:

I roused awake with a splitting headache and a sore arm. When my eyes adjusted to the two monsters in front of me I cursed.

"You've got to be kidding me," I sat up from the floor, even though I was wobbly I didn't want them to know it but sadly there was little I could do that wouldn't show it.

"Good to see you're awake, darling." The Desert Wolf said.

I side-eyed her then looked at Deucalion. I shouldn't have been surprised that he'd hurt me this way but what should I suspect?

"It's not what you think, Malia." He took a step forward. "We want to get our families back together."

My forehead creased. "What the hell are you talking about?" I pointed an accusatory finger at her as I aimed the question at Deucalion. "And why would you bring her back into my life after what she did?"

As crazy as it sounded I held more respect for the man that raped me and my sisters than the woman that was supposed to be my mother. She tried to kill me and ended up killing Kylie and my adoptive mom in a car wreck. Their deaths were what inevitably drove me to join Deucalion. His downfall drove us to end him and take control of our lives again. His revenge drove him to bring Kylie back to live only to have her kill herself. So what, I begged, would this little team up drive any of us to do?

"What family?" I demanded of both of them. "You, _Mother_ , tried to kill me and ended up killing half of my real family. If Peter knew you were anywhere in sight he'd try to kill you." My claws extended. "Hell, I'll try to kill you." I stepped toward her.

She grabbed her gun from her hip holster. "Now is that any way to talk to your Mother?"

I almost laughed. No, I did laugh. That was laughable.

"If you think you qualify as a mother think again. You carried me and pushed me out. Any chance of having a family you ruined years ago." My rage-filled eyes turned to Deucalion. "And you, who do you think wants in this dysfunctional pack?"

We circled each other. "The man you consider a son wants nothing to do with you. What makes you think that any of us want to be in your merry band of misfit monstrosities." My scales sprouted on my arms. "Who wants to look like this?"

His head shook. "You don't know how wrong you are, little girl."

Corrine shot him a look. "Watch your language."

He raised his brow at her, then looked back at me. "Think about it this way, if you have a group project to chose from do you want to join the group that does average and follows the rules or do you want to join the group that thinks outside the box, has fun and does whatever they want?"

My head shook. "What a dumbass analogy that doesn't amount to shit. You can't just change people into whatever the hell you want and tell them to kill like attack dogs. Don't you think you've done enough? You've got what you wanted. You didn't have to torture Isaac, you don't have to play with the others anymore. You have me, that was the deal we made. Now leave them alone."

His eyes turned red. "If you think you call the shots here, girl, then you're wrong. I made that deal in mind only if you did what I told you to do. So far you haven't."

"I've done everything you've asked."

"You haven't done everything I've asked. You didn't kill Isaac like you were supposed to."

A noise caught in the back of my throat. "Well, that was unreasonable. He didn't do anything wrong. I let him go because he didn't need to die. That's what you have to learn."

He chuckled darkly. "You think I care about morality? That's cute."

My eyes rolled. "Don't be ridiculous, I know you're a self-serving psychopath with no redeeming qualities."

He gestured to me and smirked. "Now about your punishment."

I laughed. "Touch me and die, pedo."

Braeden entered the room with interest in our topic. "Sorry to interrupt but we have to talk about what happened out there."

"The breach," I looked at her. "Was it magic?"

She chewed her lip. "I would've had to see it but from the description of it, I'd say it could be either science made or magical. I need to go back and figure out where it leads, but the problem wouldn't be activating it. It would be trying to get back if we cross that bridge to the unknown."

"So how do we go about doing that?" I asked, frustrated.

She locked eyes with me. "You and I are going to go back there and poke around."

"When did I get volunteered to do this?" I folded my arms across my chest.

I didn't mind going to do it I just didn't trust either of these two to be left alone to plot and scheme together. Who knew how long they'd actually been working together to plan this reunion. Was this the plan the whole time or was this more spur of the moment?

Furthermore, why did Corrine suddenly have a maternal streak?

"Would you rather stay here with us?"

"Yeah, you're right." I moved for the door. "Let's go, Witch."

She said something under her breath that I barely bad out then followed me.

She drove the SUV being that she spelled us all so we wouldn't know how to get back so there was no sense in my driving us even though that was all I wanted to do. She kept glancing at me and I kept giving her a cold, calculated stare.

"You don't have to like me but we could at least hold a conversation." She started again after failed attempts to get something out of me.

To engage in conversation with her would be to acknowledge her as a human being and I couldn't justify her existence other than bringing my sister back to life.

"Whether you like it or not we are both here. I don't much like what you did the other day but I have to say I respect it. No many people are brave enough to stand up to a witch."

You know what, fuck it.

I turned to her. "You want to talk? Fine, let's talk. Let's talk about how you stood by and let my sister get raped repeatedly for years," I turned my entire body to her, super ready to throw hands if need be.

A bead of sweat lingered at her temple. Her heartbeat thumped harder while her breathing grew erratic, but that was all under my heightened senses, had I not had them I wouldn't have noticed her uncomfortably with the topic.

"Why would you stand by, Braeden?"

Her grip tightened on the steering wheel. "Leave it alone."

My head shook. "No, I'm not going to leave it alone! That's my little sister you let get raped while you did nothing!"

With one look she had essentially shut me up, I was unable to talk or move my mouth so all that came out were muffled noises of protest. Her foot pressed down harder on the gas to get us to the edge of town faster.

I refused to get out of the car with my talking capabilities cut off, so she waved her hand and I was able to let out a string of curses directed at her. I kicked the door open, my boots crunched under the gravel.

No matter that I knew I couldn't really fight a Witch properly my leg still shot out to try and kick the living shit out of her but just as my foot would've made contact it stopped mid-air.

We locked eyes.

She raised me in the air by my foot high enough to freak me out, then flung me into the air.

I grunted as I landed on a medium sized rock that would no doubt leave a bruise on my back. "I'm going to kill you." I rushed her but was again frozen in air only it was my whole body this time. I groaned, totally done with this whole thing.

She smirked. "Do you honestly think I'd let you touch me ever again."

My eyes turned to snake slits but a werecoyote growl forced its way up my throat. "I'm going to skin you alive you crazy bitch."

She bit into her lip as she moved her hips to get to me. "Don't tease me, Malia." Her brown eyes raked over me. "Surely you could find something else to do with me."

Uh, what?

Did she want me? Not that I was complaining because she was several kinds of hot but she had to had to pay for doing nothing, for helping the bad guy.

Her finger slid up my throat until it touched my chin. "And if not I have no problem obliterating you."

"Deucalion would never let that happen."

She looked as if she hadn't considered that, which was odd for such a smart girl.

I gave a little laugh. "And with Mother Dearest back you won't get close enough to lay a Witchy look on me." I said smugly.

We both knew I had her there.

"So I suggest you let me go and do your best not to get on my bad side."

A few moments later I was able to move again. I could've thrown a punch that would've landed on her this time but I was ready to get her out of my sight as soon as possible.

Instead, my shoulder intentionally bumped into hers. "Stay away from me if you won't give me answers." My eyes warned hers. I was about to move away when I moved in closer to talk into her ear. "And if I did find something else to do with you I doubt you'd like it, then again you strike me as a squirter so I'm sure I could easily make you cum with just a look." I could feel the heat coming from her jeans already.

My eyes met hers when I pulled away. "In case you forgot I can smell arousal." I turned my back on her. "Now you can keep it in your pants can we got inspect this breach?"

She probably rolled her eyes or something to signal her annoyance.

As we approached the town boundary the breach opened it's doors for us, a crackling lightning and cloudy blueness kept our concentration.

"Wow," She commented.

"Yup,"

She looked at me. "That's what Isaac was taken through?"

My jaw clenched. "No, I just brought you out here because I wanted to spend more time with you."

She scrutinized the opening of the breach while trying to keep a distance from any suspecting grabbers from the other side. Her hand caressed the air around the lip, her eyes closed and I could see the joy spread on her face at whatever she felt and I had to wonder if at some point she wasn't allowed to feel that joy.

When she opened her eyes again the same blue lightning of the breach crackled across her brown eyes. "You can't imagine how this feels."

Actually, I could.

"I can feel it coursing through you." I told her.

She looked at me as if she remembered something, but she didn't say anything.

My arms crossed my chest. "What?"

"Nothing, you just seem familiar."

We knew each other in the other life?

Her eyes turned skeptic as she surveyed me. "What's wrong with you?"

I stepped back when a wave of nausea overtook me. "What do you mean?" My hands went to my knees so I could catch my breath. It probably had something to do with being this close to the breach. The blue light from the energy and possible plasma cast a glow on Braeden's face when she bent down to check on me.

"Your nose is bleeding." She reached forward to wipe at the trail of liquid that trickled out of my nose.

Did she have some clairvoyant powers too?

"Scott," I muttered, my eyes drifted to the breach.

My mind traveled to a time where Scott and I had children. Beautiful children that I could no longer hold, or kiss, or scold.

I rested my hand on my empty, flat stomach.

Why would my mind make me remember that of all things? Why now? Did the breach have something to do with it?

The back of my hand wiped at my nose, I stood tall, and headed back to the car with my arm wrapped around my stomach while I held the tears at bay.

Braeden started the car and took us home without a word.

The birthing of my first kid was stuck in my mind the whole way there. How had I pushed a kid out of me and not remembered until now? Melissa was her name, Scott called her Mel. She was a beautiful baby girl that stole our breath the moment we saw her because we made her, she was the creation of our union. That was surreal to think about. I couldn't ever before imagine myself with that kind of life, it played in my mind a few times while I dated Michelle but that would've been a different life with different battles, but almost immediately since I met Scott and before my mind, body, and soul was aware of Scott McCall.

I wasn't sure if Braeden put a spell on me or I just simply passed out but I woke up in my room the next morning with a bad taste in my mouth and a craving for Takis, then I remembered when I bought them in that life after our "breakup", I just knew the Desert Wolf was involved in some way, which reminded me that she was back into the picture.

I stomped down the hall, my nose took me to her scent, then I pushed the door open.

Her dark hair whipped around when she looked up from her Downward Dog pose. "Good morning, sweetie."

I blinked a few times to make sure I was seeing this right.

My throat cleared. "What are you doing?"

"Yoga, silly." She stood upright. "It's been my morning routine the past couple of months, trying to get a center of balance and peace." She moved into a Sun Salutation. "It really helps clear the mind."

I came in here to yell at her, potentially kill her, and this bitch is in here doing Yoga.

She smiled at me. "I've got an extra mat if you'd like to join me."

My arms folded across my chest. "No, I don't want to join you. I want to know what you're doing here!"

"We went over this. I want my family back."

There was no hope of keeping it cool, not with her.

"What family? You tried to kill me! You did kill my sister and the only mother I've ever known!"

She let out an uncomfortable sigh. "I know that I've done some unforgivable things, treacherous things, but I've had time to reflect and heal from my past. I'm here to fix it, to fix us."

My nostrils flared. "There isn't an 'Us'. There will never be an 'Us'. You killed people I loved and tried to kill me. How do you think I could ever trust you? How could you think I could ever trust you around Kylie?"

Her eyes shot to mine, she stood up. "Kylie, as in dead little sister Kylie?"

I readied my body to block to door if she so chose to dash for another attempt to kill her, then I realized she was genuinely confused.

"Deucalion didn't tell you?"

Her silence was enough answer.

So what had he told her? Did she know about his extracurricular activities that would get him skinned alive in prison.

The relief in her dark eyes was enough of a shock, then she actually teared up.

What was happening here?

"Thank God," She sat on the bed with a relieved breath. Her eyes met mine. "I don't know how many times I cried myself to sleep over that little girl's death, over hurting you."

Whether it was too many hormones or I was actually a fool, I felt my eyes glisten at the possibility that she was telling the truth. So far from what I could tell, she believed her own press.

And that angered me. She had no right to feel this way, to feel this remorse because then I had to forgive her and that wasn't happening.

After I closed her door I turned around only to run into Braeden. She was very good at sneaking up on the supernatural. Maybe it was a spell. Or maybe she was just that stealthy.

She wore a green beaded satin tank with blue jeans and black ankle boots. The green brought out a few tiny specks of green in her eyes I had never noticed.

"Morning," She greeted. "We need to talk," She gestured to my room.

"If it's about not your invol-"

"Malia," Deucalion called from the bottom of the stairs. "We've got some business to take care of at the warehouse."

Braeden and I looked down at him.

"We?" I asked.

He waved his hand forward. "All of us, grab your mother."

My jaw clenched, I started down the stairs. "She can hear just fine." I made sure to push my shoulder into his on the way past him, then I stood with my back to him.

He sighed. "Can you at least for a second have some maturity about you?"

I rigidly pivoted his way, my eyes narrowed slits. "Excuse me?"

"That's right, I said you need to grow up."

A sinful laugh left me. "Oh, that's rich. The child molestor telling someone else to grow up!" Scales lined my skin. "Ever think I would had you not touched us!" The urge so strong to slap the shit out of him hit me but via Braeden's stillness spell I couldn't move.

Corinne flew through the air, her now booted feet attacked his chest until he was flat on his back with her on top of him. Her claws slashed across his face.

His hand shot up to grab her neck.

She must've saw it coming because she maneuvered around so that her foot extended to cut off his air supply, her thick boot pressed in the crook of his neck.

My eyes went to Braeden.

She stared at the scene in contemplation until ultimately she let me go and checked on Deucalion.

Corinne rose, slightly out of breath. The seemingly calm eyes she displayed before were gone as she stared Deucalion down to his soul. "Do it again and see where we stand."

A sliver of me felt her maternal protection but that couldn't be trusted so I pushed it away. I watched Braeden worry about Deucalion and I couldn't roll my eyes hard enough. He wasn't the one that she should be asking if they were okay or not.

A half an hour and some coffee later we were all in the SUV, this time Braeden drove while Deucalion sat in the front, which seemed like a bold move because I kept envisioning Corinne wrapped her leg around his leg and snapping it. She didn't do it but it still looked like she considered it.

"What are we doing here?" I asked once we arrived.

The sound of car doors slamming filled the air.

"The new Chimeras are ready to play." He seemed actually excited. "We're going to mold them."

Corinne looked at me. "What is a Chimera?"

Had he really told her nothing?

He explained to her what he was doing and while she didn't seem all that bothered by his plans she didn't rejoice either.

The obvious stares at our asses as we walked through the warehouse had never been so obvious than now. Sure, I knew men stared at me. Men stared at everyone. There was just something empowering about walking next to two other beautiful women and knowing the enthrall you had over people.

I glanced at Braeden to find her already with a smirk on her face.

Her eyes ran up and down my body in longing.

If things were different who could say I wouldn't pull her into the closest private room and put my mouth where she was wet and pulsing. What a goddamn snack that would be.

She grinned with the knowledge of my thoughts.

Could she read minds too? There was so much about her that I didn't know. Now I wondered what she wanted to talk about earlier?

Deucalion led us to the basement level where the Chimera's were in need of several showers and a box of deodorant. He dismissed them to do just that.

We ended up in his office.

"Now about Isaac," He started with his feet on the corner of the desk. "Everyone knows that you were tasked with killing him and yet you helped him escape. There should be punishment here..." He looked around at all of us. "But I have a feeling that wouldn't go over well given our recent company." He gestured to Corinne.

She stood alert in the middle of the room.

"And being that he was abducted into that portal we need to focus our energy's otherwise to finding him."

Braeden stepped forward. "If I may, I advise against that."

They shared a few looks.

"The energy I felt from the breach was almost magical. Almost." She glanced at me. "Obviously it's a portal to somewhere else. The uncertainty of it's location is too vast for us to play around with it. You could send a few of your men to check it out, the disposable ones. We don't know what's waiting on the other side to yank us through."

The bloody masked individual popped into my mind.

"What could he want with Isaac?"

"Was this Isaac integral to your operations?" Corinne inquired.

I made a noise in the back of my throat.

"Not extremely." He answered.

My teeth ground together.

Isaac, no matter how little time I spent with him, was important. He was important to Allison whether or not she remembered him that way.

I wondered what Scott was doing? Was he with the pack or was he sulking all by his lonesome? I wanted him to take Isaac's advice and stop looking for me but I knew that message never got delivered and even if it did there was a snowball's chance in Hell he'd actually do it.

"I need an update on Kylie," I told him.

She could be doing God knows what. Was she learning to be happy? I wanted to make sure she was still alive otherwise this deal was moot and I would kill everyone in here.

He gave a small nod with his eyes on his desktop screen. "The Chimeras will be eating soon. After they've finished up we'll go down to direct them."

Braeden leaned her arms against his desk, her ass poked out behind her. "Don't you have Theo for that?"

I prayed he was doing okay and that if and when Liam finds out he'd put that aside to stay on task.

Deucalion nodded. "I've reached out to Theo and he knows when to call. He's been silent for less than twelve hours, nothing to worry about. He'll come back eventually. They always do."

My eyes rolled, then couldn't look away from Braeden's nice ass in those jeans.

"I'll go talk to the others," Corinne volunteered, her weapon ready if anything were to pop off.

Braeden turned her gaze onto me with a look over her shoulder, her ass still in the air. "Why don't you go check on your Chimeras, Deac?"

My brow arched at her suggestive tone. What did she think would happen? They'd leave and we'd fuck on his desk?

He sensed the tension and rose with a small grin. "I'll come get you when you're needed." He closed the door behind him.

That left Braeden and I alone. Something I think she really wanted.

With a swift turn she pulled herself onto Deucalion's desk, her jean clad legs parted enough to allude to what she wanted. Her finger beaconed me to come to her.

I absolutely had no choice in the matter, my feet worked without my consent until I stood in front of her. Was I afraid? Not even a little bit.

I let out a dark chuckle. "You couldn't have asked me to come to you?" My eyes on hers.

She leaned back enough to make it interesting. "Would you have come?"

My mouth dipped in a tight smirk. "You know I'm not into this, I can't do this with you."

"Because you don't want to or because of Scott?"

"Would you believe both?"

Her head shook, a coy smile on her face.

My eyes fell on her brown lips. "I can't. Normally, I would eat you alive, but I can't."

Her eyes narrowed and I was abruptly on my knees.

I struggled against it but it wasn't a struggle of the same nature if it were Deucalion. Mostly because I was attracted to her and I wouldn't mind giving her a few orgasms...but I had Scott. In the loosest sense possible.

She slid to her feet, walked over to the bookshelf, and then returned with a wooden yard stick.

My eyes closed because I knew I was going to enjoy this. Very much.

She slapped the yard stick on her hand a few times as she circled me.

A little bead of thrill filled me. "I don't have time for this." I stood and headed for the door.

The yardstick slapped into my ass.

I stilled, then turned to her with a raised brow. "Inappropriate, don't you think?"

Her eyes rolled. She tossed the stick aside. "You don't know what you want anymore, is that it?"

"I know what I want and it's not in this room." The door wouldn't open. I huffed, my arm fell by my arm as I turned back to her. "I can't do this right now, Braeden."

She came up to me with her hands on her hips. "You're not being honest with yourself either. How is that fair?"

"Honest about the fact that I want to hurdle you through the window? No, I think I processed that."

A grin lifted her lips, but it didn't meet her eyes. "It's okay for you to like me too."

My head shook. "I _don't_ like you. I tolerate you because I can't kill you."

Her arms hung around my shoulders. "You want me and that alone makes you feel like you're betraying Scott, am I right?"

My nostrils flared and I threw her arms off. "So what if it is? I don't want to play this game of whatever it is you're trying to play. Even if I can't be with Scott." The last thought sat in my mind like a cinderblock, strong and hard to move.

My fist hit the door. "Open it."

"Ask me nicely," She said with seduction in her voice.

Something between a hiss and a growl left my throat when I snapped around to her.

"I don't have time for your games for the last time, Witch!" I exploded. My heat vision held her in red. "I love Scott and I won't be tempted by you or any other pretty face so stop trying to throw yourself at me before I really get angry and rip your face off!"

Her heart rate stayed steady. She lifted a perfectly thick brow before she stepped back.

The door opened behind us.

I stashed the theatrics, then walked out.

Everyone continued on like they didn't hear a peep of what just happened. Maybe she put a spell on the room. I didn't care, I just wanted to get away from her before something I couldn't take back happened. Maybe there could've been a better way to handle that but I realized that it wasn't my irritation at Braeden that set me off, it was this disconnect I felt with Scott. He felt a million miles away and that broke my heart.

She stayed behind to inspect the shipments being unpackaged.

I stomped down the hall in a bad mood.

Why was life doing this to me? What had I done that had been so terribly bad that I deserved this Hellish reality?

Deucalion and Corinne talked amongst themselves about the expectations of what the new Chimeras and what they both wanted out of me.

Was it weird that Corinne still had a protective edge to her words that produced some kind of daughterly acceptance. Whatever it was I shook it away because believing that that woman could be anything other than a snake in the grass, psychotic, empty hearted person was mistaken.

The Chimeras weren't in their normal room and board so I walked down the hall a little, bored and frustrated.

I noticed a door along the wall that I'd passed by a few times but never paid any mind to. My hand tried the handle but it was locked. I looked up and down the hall and tugged on the handle a little harder until it gave way, then I entered the room and understood why it was "locked" off.

There was some kind of cryochamber with a frozen person inside. There was so many different buttons and levers that I didn't know which did what that I pulled all of them.

Alarms sounded throughout the room while the fog started to clear in the chamber. Boots fell on the stairs, they would be here any minute. If only the stupid fog would clear faster.

In a last ditch effort, I aimed my fist through the window but it didn't penetrate the glass. Was it reinforced somehow?

The clicking of guns made me pause with my hands in the air.

"What is it that you think you're doing?" Deucalion asked. He rushed forward to undo my mess but the damage was already done. "Get her out of here." He ordered of his men. "Now!"

Hands grabbed me from behind and pulled me away from the mess I made. But not before the fog cleared in the just the right way that I saw the face of who was inside the chamber.

 _Scott held me in his arms on the roof of my house. We were surrounded by the quiet for once. Well, as quiet as it would get on a campus. He surprised me with it after dinner where a blanket and picnic basket already laid._

 _I was cold but I didn't want to interrupt our moment with the stars spread out above us like our many destinies._

" _You see that star there?" He pointed to a bright one, the both of us on our backs with our eyes on the night sky. "That's Sirius."_

 _I never felt so insignificant as I did then. Trillions of stars, of galaxies, of other possible versions of us doing this exact same thing, all of that could be out there. At one point I would've thought it made me weak to admit that the thought alone of being in Scott's arms made me feel safer than I've ever have. Lately, I learned that love doesn't make you weak. No matter how little of it runs through you, it strengthens you. And I did feel stronger alongside Scott._

 _With a grin on my face, I turned to look at him. "That's not Sirius. That's Mercury."_

 _His brow arched. "That can't be right,"_

 _I nodded while I tried to hide my grin. "Kira's taking Astronomy. I've glanced through a few chapters." I pointed at his star. "That, McCall, is Mercury."_

 _He opened his mouth but nothing came out, an impressed look fell on his face._

 _This time I couldn't hold in my laughter._

 _He grinned at me. "I had a whole line about how serious I am about you."_

 _My smile faltered. I sat up._

 _He propped up on his forearm, his finger came underneath my chin. "You're not the only one that's scared here, Malia."_

 _I nodded. "I know."_

" _You know?" He sat up, his finger didn't falter. "Then you know that before you I didn't open up to a lot of people after my mom was killed. Not even my pack. For a while it looked like I'd never trust anyone in that way again." His deep brown eyes held mine. "Then I saw you in that classroom and I heard you make music. I think maybe then I knew you were my future even before you said your name was Malia McCall." He gave a soft grin._

 _My eyes fluttered a few times. I had a sneaking suspicion that he was about to say something that would tip us over the edge of no return and I wasn't ready for that._

 _His thumb rubbed over my chin gently while he gazed over me. Instead of saying anything further he reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet._

 _My forehead creased._

 _He produced a photo, then handed it to me._

 _I took it lightly. My eyes ran over it carefully. When I realized who it was it felt heavier in my hands and my eyes immediately went to his._

" _Is this...?"_

 _He nodded._

 _The wind rustled his hair._

" _Beautiful, wasn't she?"_

 _Without having to look back at the photo I confirmed with another nod. I was too afraid to look away from him, knowing that his act meant too much to look away from._

 _Maybe I didn't have the words he did but I did have the actions. And in my case, actions spoke louder than words._

 _I placed my hand on his cheek to pull him closer. My lips pressed into his._

" _Thank you," I said softly against his lips._

 _Our foreheads touched._

" _Thank you," He reiterated._

 _Moments like these you realized that moments were fleeting and if you were to ever make the most out of life then you'd try your damnedest to live in them. Even if I could never say what he wanted me to say I felt confident that I wouldn't mind living with a lot more moments like these between us._

 _He took the photo from my hand. "Now if you don't mind I have to get this back to safety." He pulled away to put his photo back, a light smirk on his face._

" _So you think I couldn't keep it safe, McCall?" I asked playfully._

 _He shrugged his shoulders back. "Luckily, there's no way to find out." His tone sarcastic smug._

 _My hand grabbed a hold of his shirt and pulled him to me._

 _He raised his hands in the air. "Easy, Mamacita."_

 _My brow rose. Had a nice ring to it coming out of his mouth._

 _His facade cracked as he smiled down at me with an inch of room between us._

 _I smiled back. "I was right about you,"_

" _What do you mean?"_

 _Our eyes danced over each other._

" _You're more dangerous than you look." My leg hooked around his waist and pulled him closer to me. "I like that about you."_

 _He placed kisses along my shoulder and neck. "I can think of something else you like more than me." He pressed his semi hard cock into me._

 _While he wasn't wrong I couldn't help but laugh._

 _He raised up. "Oh, you think that's funny?"_

" _What are you going to do about it if I do? I'm not scared of you, Scott McCall." I played along._

 _His eyes shifted at my lie._

 _I was scared of him, in all the ways you could be of a person like Scott. I was scared of trusting him. I was scared of him protecting me. I was scared of falling for him to the point of no return. No part of me wanted to ever reach that point. Love like that was dangerous and could very easily turn to hate._

 _He grew serious without saying what he really wanted to say._

 _He held both sides of my face. "You're not scared of me, huh?"_

 _My hand pushed him off of me. "No, I'm not." I said sharply._

 _Maybe he wasn't the only one saying something without really saying it._

 _We sat up with a few feet between us, the air turned half sour._

 _Mercury twinkled at us after a few moments of tense silence._

 _He cleared his throat. "You see that big bright star?" He pointed to Mercury._

 _I humored him by looking. I nodded._

" _That's Sirius," He turned his head in my direction. The weight of his words between us._

 _A huff left me._

 _I knew enough to know that I was being a brat because I was afraid of my emotions or where they could go if things prolonged between us. And they would. No matter what happened from this moment forward._

 _I swallowed a little of my pride and admitted, "It's beautiful." I turned my head to look at him._

 _We stared at each other in quiet understanding._

 _Eventually, my head fell onto his shoulder. Eventually, I let myself live in the moment. Eventually, my heart realized that it only belonged to the man that once again held me in his arms even if my mind didn't want it to. Eventually, I told them both to shut up so I could live in his arms under the moon with the night air around us._

I knew without a shadow of a doubt that Melissa McCall was the woman in that cryochamber, that Deucalion's men hadn't killed her or they had but he had brought her back. I knew as I saw Corinne at the top of steps that she had no idea who she was getting into bed with because of me.

Her brown eyes, much like my own, stared down at me. "What happened?" She looked me over. She smacked one of the guards upside the head. "Get your hands off her, Pendejo."

They released me, but I was far from being free.

She pulled me close for a hug.

I couldn't take the proximity so I pushed her away. "I'm not there yet."

"I understand, mija."

"Don't," I gritted her down. "I'm not your mija. Mother's don't try to kill their daughter. That's not how family works."

She gave a half shrug. "I can't apologize enough for my past transgressions. All I can do now is make new memories. Can we make new memories, Malia?"

I stared at her. "Give me one good reason I should trust you?" My arms folded across my stomach.

Her head cocked to the side in thought. "Because quite frankly, sweetheart, you are the only bridge in my life that I burned that's worth rebuilding." Her hand raised then fell to her thigh.

"I can't help but wonder what we would look like in a few years if we tried."

A few years. Would I even still be alive? In a few years would there even be a 'me' to still live?

Through the days and nights I felt my snake side taking over more. If I couldn't get it under control then I would have to take measures into my own hands. I didn't want to end up like Deucalion, enamored with power enough to kill for it. Or worse, like Corinne, regretful after years of leaving destruction in her wake. At this point, I didn't know which was worse.

I turned back to her. "Not good enough."

She sighed. "The truth is I stumbled across you a while ago. A year to be exact, when I did a job in Keysville. You were on campus at Longwood, just a few miles down the road. I thought you were dead, Mija." Her eyes looked far away. "But the moment I laid eyes on you, as beautiful as you are now, I knew you were mine." Her mouth tugged at the corners into a small smile. "You were wearing a purple top with overalls shorts. Your hair was shorter. I remembered thinking that you had such a presence around you that everyone seemed subconsciously aware of you. You got that from me." She said proudly.

My anger rose. "The only thing I got from you were my eyes. That's it."

Despite my less than stellar tone she still remained hopeful.

"I watched you for months and months, afraid to reach out. When you came back to California I continued to stay my distance, but I was close enough to see that you built a better life with your friends than I could ever hope for you."

I stepped forward. "They're pack, all of them, which is a concept that's obviously foreign to you."

Her composure finally cracked. She dipped her head under the weight of her remorse. "I'm not going to pretend that I had a perfect childhood or that I could've turned out differently but you don't know everything about me, Malia. In no way am I making excuses for myself but everyone has their version of events. I, much like a lot of abandoned youth, grew troubled. I'm sorry we couldn't have known each other."

Something in me broke.

My eyes stung. "Well, who's fault is that?" I demanded, probably louder than necessary.

She nodded. "I know." She sighed again. "Look I know that you don't have a reason to trust me or let me in your life after everything I've done but I've not only watched you for a year, I've seen you. With the girls you consider sisters, by yourself, with Scott."

My eyes dried up as my attention snapped forward. "Whatever you're about to let come out of your mouth, _don't_."

"Relax, Mija. I like Scott for you. And you for him."

I stepped into a loose soldier's stance so I could pull my claws out behind my back. "If you ever go near Scott," I inched closer. "Or any of my pack I will kill you, Corinne." I stood directly in front of her. "That's a promise."

She gave a laugh. "I'm not scared of you, Mija." She as tenderly as she could shoved me back. "I kept closer tabs on you as soon as this Deucalion business happened."

Something clicked.

"What, is that why you're here? To protect me?"

She continued to stare at me.

I laughed. "Oh, that's rich. You're here to protect me from the man that ruined my life after you put me in his crosshairs."

Her forehead creased.

"I only went with him because you killed my mom and Kylie. I was growing more out of control of my animal side and I needed someone, anyone like me, to put a lid on it. My dad couldn't do anything to help me, but you could've! Had you been there I wouldn't have ended up like this!" Venom rose in my throat. "I blame you, mother!" I knocked her back into the wall hard enough that she made a dent.

Her eyes flashed blue in rage, then moments later it faded back to brown as she struggled not to cry.

This wasn't nearly as hard as when I told my dads, but I had to admit a part of me wrenched at her reaction. To see a mother's response to their child having been raped was nothing short of heartbreaking, even if it was only a mother like Corinne.

SCOTT'S POV:

Peter and I headed for his car. Kylie ran down the stairs from my apartment with my dad in tow.

I sighed. "You told her."

He shrugged. "She's like a little Malia, she got to me."

"You're an FbI agent," I said pointedly.

His eyes rolled. "Yeah, yeah."

Kylie stepped in front of me, her green eyes shimmered. "You weren't going to tell me about the plan, you were just going to leave me here."

Argent's car pulled up.

Peter and I locked eyes.

He grabbed my bag, then started the car.

The three of us had come up with the plan of tracking the course of weapons attacks on the local branches of Hunters. Deucalion was going after the guns and ammo then having his men kill the Hunters. That was how we were going to find Malia and bring her home. I didn't know the plan after that. We couldn't run, not with half our pack on another Earth still. So we'd have to fight.

I faced Kylie again. "Kyle, I've got to do this and you know as well as I do that you're not ready to face Deucalion."

If everything went right we wouldn't have to. At least, not today.

She didn't pout like I expected. Instead, her jaw hardened.

Lydia walked up.

They looked at each other.

"They need to go," Lydia told her.

Kylie nodded. "Well, in that case, be careful." She turned, then jogged back up the stairs and into the apartment but not before we heard her cry. Her heart beat a mile a minute.

Lydia gave me a look.

I sighed. "I got it." I went after her. "Kyle." I knocked on her bedroom door.

Her muffled cries carried to me.

My hand wrapped around the knob, I opened the door.

She was face down on the bed, her forehead on her arms. "If you're going to go just go." She said pointedly.

My weight dipped the bed. "Not until I apologize." I took in her shaking body. "I should've told you I was leaving again."

I didn't know that I'd play this role in her life but here I was.

She turned to me with wet, red eyes. "Why would you leave me without a word to go handle Deucalion stuff?"

I came up short.

"Scott, you know that I don't trust a lot of people. I trusted you to not leave without a warning, not for something this heavy." She wiped her face.

I moved to rest my hand on her calf but she pushed me away.

"Just go."

My jaw clenched. "Kylie Anne Tate."

She stilled.

I leaned in. "Now you know that I wouldn't push you aside or leave you behind. I love you dammit, like a little sister. I don't like the idea of you in Deucalion's sights in the future and I damn sure don't like it now, so you're going to sit your hard headed ass in this apartment where it's safe until I get back. If you go anywhere you go with Lydia." I instructed. I didn't want to do the whole pointed finger spiel but that's what flew out of me.

Even if Malia's love for her wasn't a factor I had grown to see Kylie as another extension of this pack, of my family. If anything ever happened to her I don't know what I'd do. I recognized that her literally pushing me away was her way of coping with her own version of abandonment issues, with her fear of no one ever loving her. She wasn't as good as masking her eyes as she thought.

I rose. "I gotta go."

She stood with heavy eyes. "Promise me you'll come back."

I held out my pinky. "I promise."

She hooked hers around mine and gave a half convinced grin that I feared would never reach her eyes, even when we got her sister back. She quickly wrapped her arms around me.

I hugged her back, then gently placed a kiss on the top of her head. "Stay safe." I pulled away because I had to. Her eyes followed me all the way to the door. I jogged to the car to put distance between us. "Drive." I told Peter.

I've never felt more responsible for anyone in my life, not even Liam. It almost...almost felt like I was a parent.

As ahead of myself as I was getting I wondered if that was in my future with Malia?

Flashes of a teenaged boy and a girl filled my mind. Moments of them laughing, fighting, learning to control their animal abilities. Moments of them with an older version of Malia and I, wedding rings on our fingers.

When they faded away I felt my heart tug and my eyes grew watery.

Alex and Melissa.

They came from us, that realization left me breathless.

"Scott?" Argent turned in the passenger seat to check on me. His eyes lowered on my face.

A trail of blood trickled out of my nose. My finger curled, then dabbed at it. I wiped it away. "I'm fine."

He didn't seem convinced but still turned around.

I'm surprised he could muster up the gratitude for me after I told him where Allison was. Saying he'd been less than amicable would be putting it mildly. He'd been distraught to find out his daughter had gone to another Earth without letting him know. I understood. Who wouldn't be upset about that?

My attention turned to the passing trees out of the window. I hoped that tonight would go as planned as foolish as that was to hope. I wanted Malia back. I needed her back.

MALIA'S POV:

Halfway through helping Deucalion train his Chimeras my heartbeat quickened. A pain struck my head, then a few moments later thick, wine colored blood dripped from my nose. I dropped to my knees with my hands pressed to my stomach in a whole new kind of hurt.

Corinne rushed forward. "What's happening?" She looked between Deucalion and Braeden. "What did you do to her?"

My stomach felt like it was shifting. I let out a scream.

"Malia?" Deucalion came forward.

My eyes flickered back and forth from snake slits to cobolt blue.

Corinne held my hair back while she fanned me. "Can't you do something, you're a Witch!" She demanded of Braeden.

"Ahhh!" The pain grew sharper.

Deucalion grew closer. His face shifted into the Demon Wolf. "Malia," His voice vibrated with dominance.

My eyes halted on blue. Whether I wanted to or not my attention turned to him in obedience.

The pain all but instantaneously subsided.

I looked back at the hand on my ankle that belonged to Braeden.

She stared at me with confused eyes, but there was knowledge behind that confusion. She stood, then went to Deucalion's side. "I don't think she's good to go for tonight's mission."

Regrettably, I stood with the help of Corinne.

"I second that." She added.

Fed up with the both of them I snapped. "What I do is not up to either of you." In defiance, I looked to Deucalion. "The plan proceeds."

He nodded in approval. "Good."

Braeden huffed, then marched her heeled boots out of the room.

Corinne stared her eyes at him like weapons.

He conceded. "Alright, you go as long as Braeden gives you the okay tonight."

"I don't need her permission." My hands went to my hips.

"Don't be a Cabron, Mija!" Corinne protested. "You were just on the floor in pain. Your nose bled. There's something wrong with you and it'd be wise to let the little Witch Doctor check you out."

Deucalion attempted to hold in his smirk at first but gave up soon after. "Yeah, let her check you out."

My eyes rolled.

"Oh," Corinne said.

My temper fluctuated. "Let's get back to training."

Corinne gave pointers from the corner while Deucalion and I took on the fifteen Chimeras primed and ready to hit somebody.

Johnny, a guy I recognized from around town, kept coming for me. He threw out a kick that missed by a lot which I quickly figured out was the distract from the punch that landed on jaw.

"Good, Johnny Boy." Deucalion praised him, then went back evading the blows of his attackers.

I growled at Johnny and he backed off as another girl tackled me to the floor. I would've been impressed had there not been other's jockeying for the approval of Deucalion by trying to take me down. My legs rose to kick her off of me and into another approaching opponent. With a shift of my legs I swiftly rose.

Johnny got me in the back with a hard punch.

A little wind knocked out of me, I stumbled forward. My hand went to my knee briefly to catch my breath.

Johnny came around and tried to kick me in the face.

I corrected myself, then jumped out of the way. "Seriously, let someone else have a shot." I warned.

The smallest of the bunch, Corey, came at me with a weak attempt at a punch. He was the only one that I could tell didn't want to be here but had no other option at this point. It was Deucalion's way or the highway, and the highway would quickly result in death for someone that didn't know how to control their abilities just yet with all these Hunters around. Deucalion made sure to give them the fear speech that he gave us when we were little girls; stick close to him and none of the big bad men with guns pointed at us would get through him. The same old song. Only now he had a lot of disposable muscle and weapons to back up his promise.

I pushed Corey back enough for him to get the hint to stay out of the way.

He retreated.

Johnny came around sharp with a right hook.

Blood rose in my throat until I could spit it out. This little shit wouldn't quite.

"Back off," I told him.

He looked to Deucalion for confirmation and when he didn't get it he came at me again with a kick to the stomach.

I fell on my ass, my teeth shattered. I saw red.

One moment I was on the floor and the next I knocked Johnny's feet from under him.

He fell with a thud and a groan.

I flew over top of him, my claws scratched across his face over and over until his blood soaking my fingers. Justice filled me up. His protests should've made my stomach turn but it only turned me on.

Hands pulled me off of him.

"That's enough!" Deucalion barked.

I stood on my own feet, blood dripped onto the floor underneath me. I jumped up and down. "Woah!" I grinned. "I can go all day."

The sight of a few others helping Johnny up made me laugh.

"That's enough training for today." Deucalion dismissed his soon to be dead army. Once the room cleared he pointed at me. "Control yourself."

I cut my eye at him and laughed. "This was what you wanted, was it not?" My bloody hand ran through my hair. "You wanted me to turn into this for you, so I'd stay."

He glanced at Corinne.

She watched us in disapproval but she didn't say anything. Because she knew she had no right. Or place.

"I need you to fall in line when I command you to, scaring the shit out of the trainees only makes them want to back out."

My eyes hardened. "They should be scared! You signed them up to die without telling them the whole truth or giving them an option really."

To play Devil's advocate, I knew that homeless people were more susceptible to using drugs and alcohol to cope with the way their lives turned out, thus resulting in a lot of deaths anyway. But that wasn't the point. These people were born human. Lately...I'd kill for that luxury.

"Why don't you go back to the house and cool down. There's a gift waiting for you there anyway, might help you learn control again."

I stomped out of the room.

My head automatically turned to the room that I'd broken into earlier, but there was nothing inside. He moved it to another location. One I bet I could find over time. If I couldn't be there with Scott then his mom should be. I owed him that much.

A guard drove Corinne and I home.

Home. Sad that it had come to this.

"I'm a little rusty in the kitchen but I'll try to scramble something together." She said as we walked through the door.

"I'm not hungry."

She burned her gaze onto me. "Too bad. You need to eat."

I jogged upstairs to my room, not sure what to expect of Deucalion's gift.

Braeden was in her room, chanting or doing whatever Witches do in their spare time. She shut the open door when she saw me.

My eyes rolled.

I closed my door behind me and locked it, I pressed my back against the door.

On my bed sat two things.

My feet took me over to inspect the guitar and a package. I opened the package to find pictures of Kylie with Scott, Peter, and Lydia. In the background of a few Raph stood on the phone. He was involved in this. Scott got him involved in this. They couldn't find me.

My finger ran down the photo of Scott on the phone. The sight of him threw my heart into overdrive, I could only imagine what it would do if I ever saw him again.

I placed the photos on the bedside table, then sank down on the middle of the mattress with the mahogany guitar in my hands. All it took was a strum of one note to send my mind into the other place where new movies of our lives played.

 _I stood in my bedroom, waiting for him to brush his teeth because I got bored yesterday when he was late for our study session and switched the toothpaste he left over with shaving cream. Hell, it wasn't easy. But boy would it be worth it for the look on his face. I craved to make the do-gooder Alpha angry, to get any other reaction out of him other than mild, puppy dog cutie pants Scott McCall._

 _He glanced at me as he grabbed his toothbrush. His brow rose._

 _I took the hint and pretended to be interested in something else in my room. I grabbed a comic from his bookshelf, then peered over it._

 _He turned on the faucet, wet his toothbrush, then began to go in circles with none other than shaving cream. He paused after a few seconds._

 _My face cracked into a grin._

 _He looked at me in suspicion, then relaxed his posture once he saw the amusement on my end. "What the hell is this?" He bent down to wash his mouth out._

" _Shaving cream." I barely got out between my laughter that bounced off the walls of my room._

 _The water stopped._

 _As did my laughter._

 _We locked eyes._

 _His brow arched._

 _As did mine._

 _I dashed for the door as he dashed for me, but I was faster. My laughter returned when I reached the steps. "I'm sorry!" I grinned from ear to ear with him chasing me._

" _Really sounds like it." He didn't sound really angry, just ticked off enough but in playful manner that he mastered so well with us._

 _I glanced back to find him hot on my trail._

 _His brown eyes stared into mine with a fondness that made my heart jump. Not a ton of people were fond of me, but I truly felt that Scott was. He was such a nice guy, one that deserved to be happy and in love, and with someone that appreciated him as much as I did. Where was that girl?_

 _He smiled at me with his adorably handsome, dimpled smile._

 _My feet tripped me up and my ass ate wooden steps hard. So hard that the last step caved a little under my weight. I groaned._

" _Oh my God," Scott rushed in front of me. "Are you okay?" Even with the budding laugh on his face I could tell he still cared._

 _My hand smacked his away. "Oh, shove it, McCall."_

 _His laughter burst through the air._

 _When I was with Stiles I didn't hear him laugh much. The only person that really made him laugh was Lydia, which was almost odd because was fairly neutral herself. So color me shocked with Scott and I started hanging out more and laughter became the normal for us. The sound was one of comfort for me, one of home. It wasn't odd that I associated Scott with home. He was the Alpha after all. The ex boyfriend's best friend thing shouldn't matter. Well, I was aware that it might in other circles, but ours wasn't exactly conventional._

 _He helped me up._

 _I wiped my ass off._

 _We stared at the dented step together._

" _I don't know how you're going to explain this to your dad." He looked at me and cackled._

 _I playfully shoved him. "I'll tell him I dropped you on your head. He'll believe that."_

 _His eyes crinkled as he smiled at me. "Ha ha, funny."_

" _Not as funny as you brushing your teeth with shaving cream." I pointed at him with a smirk. "You have to admit that was a good one."_

 _His thick arms folded across his chest. "It was a little funny, Lia." He moved to pass me, but leaned down. "Do it again and you're out of the pack."_

 _My mouth dropped open in shock. I punched his arm. "Not even a little bit funny, dude."_

 _He caught my fist the second punch. "Kind of funny." His eyes softened as he looked down at me. "Come on, you know I'd never kick you out. Who would do things like switch my toothpaste for shaving cream?" He backed away with a trace of a smirk on his face._

 _I followed after him. "You're not off the hook yet, dumbass."_

 _We bickered some more on our way to the kitchen._

All of the memories I'd gained were burned into my memory. I remembered his proposal at the duplicate house he built of my childhood home there, how in his construction he built that last step to resemble the original that bent under my heavy ass.

Longing, sorrow, and helplessness battled within me.

The sight of the guitar only outraged me.

My hands wrapped around the fretboard, raised it in the air, and smashed it to pieces while I let out a my own warcry through the battle I was going through. The body flew around the room. I aimed the remaining fretboard at one of the windows and hurled it through with all my strength. "Ahhh!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.

The door was kicked in.

I punched the scattered pieces into splinters.

Corinne ran to me, she tried to hug me.

I pushed her away. I stared back at them with eyes not of my own. I could smell their fear on them.

She inched forward again, her hand took in mine, her gaze on the split knuckles.

Braeden walked over the bedside table, nodded with confirmation, then lifted the photos as evidence. "These probably triggered her." She told Corinne.

Corinne looked back at me with knowing, fearful eyes before she pulled in for a hug.

I fought against her, not wanting this embrace to mean something, but with her seemingly genuine warmth wrapped around me and unyielding I soon stopped resisted. The weight of everything weighed me down, we slid to the floor at the start of my tears.

She rocked us back and forth.

I wanted to pull away, to flee, to never let her lay her hands on me again but nothing had ever felt more essential than the comfort she offered in that moment. I clung to her like a life raft.

What was happening to me? There were too many emotions that swirled inside.

"It hurts." I cried into her shirt.

She rubbed my back. "What does, Mija?"

I blubbered relentlessly. "Everything." My sobs could probably be heard for miles. I didn't stop when there was nothing left to cry out or when my head felt on the brink of caving under the pressure at my temples and forehead. "Everything hurts."

Eventually, even the driest of tears drew up and I sobered up.

She still held me in her arms.

I was done crying, I didn't know why I wasn't all the way across the room, away from her. I couldn't move.

She took the opportunity to say her piece. "When I found out I was pregnant I was beyond scared. I was on my own, I never had any mother figure. Pretty soon you were growing inside of me and I didn't know what to do, how to be a mother. It's not pure instinct like we're lead to believe. I was terrified of loving you so much or being a terrible mother that I tried to destroy either from becoming true." Her wet eyes gazed down into mine. She huffed. "I never thought the legend was true but when Werecoyote give birth they pass on part of their power to their child." Her head shook. "I didn't think anything of it but the instinct to hold onto that power, the power that I fought for my whole life, was stronger than the love I could've offered you at the time." Her gaze went off in the distance. "Giving birth to someone is hard enough as it is but when you're supernatural all of those heightened emotions magnify times a thousand and it feels like any little thing can set you off. It was one of the darkest periods of my life, and that's saying a lot." She reached out to swipe my hair out of my face. "And I know none of these explanations could ever be good enough for you as to why things happened they way they did, I just wanted you to know my truth."

I nodded After she helped me clean up the mess I sat on the floor with my back against the bed. With a journal in my hand and a pen I started to pour out everything I wanted to.

Dear Scott,

I'm lost. Plain and simple. As pathetic as it sounds when we are apart I don't make the best choices. I guess, that's something I need to work on. You'll never guess who's back; My birth mom. I don't know how to feel about that. We talked, like actually talked and I don't know if I'm the worst person in the world for believing her, for wanting to forgive her. That's not the worst of it, I'm so ashamed to admit it but there's a part of me that hates Kylie for making me do this. Well, she didn't make me do anything. I'd gladly do it all over again. But I'm doing things, things that you wouldn't be proud of and I don't know how to stop. I want to blame it on my new Chimera mix but at what point does that part blend with myself? It just seems like every little thing makes me snap lately. I hate it. I hate it because it feels good.

I miss you. I miss us. I miss waking up next to you, bickering with you, breathing next to you.

You won't remember this but before I left you behind I told you that I loved you. In case you doubted it, I meant every word. If you need to hear it again, I love you. You know that those words aren't easy for me to say so you better appreciate them. I can see the smug smile on your face now. Well, you earned it. Go on.

More importantly, I fear that you will never get this message. I'm going to try my damndest to arrange for it to get to you. I need you to hear me when I saw tale care of yourself. If I die, mourn me and move on. Everyone will be there for you. Don't shut them out like before. I'll always be there for you even if I'm ten feet under. It's too bad really, I was kinda looking forward to starting a life with you. Kinda. We'll have to catch each other in the next life.

I love you,

Malia

My eyes ran over the note until it became one big blur.

Before I knew the sun settled past the horizon and darkness filled my room.

Heeled boots clicked on the hardwood floors.

I shot up to hide the letter in the bedside drawer but then thought it would be too obvious so I crammed it into a random book.

The doorknob twisted, then it opened.

I faced Braeden.

"On the bed," She walked over.

My behind planted on the bed as directed.

She watched me with guarded eyes. Her hands hovered over my body while she whispered words I didn't understand under her breath. Her eyes turned white, she jolted back.

"Braeden," I jumped off the bed.

After a few seconds she returned to normal, as normal as a Witch could be.

I snapped my fingers in front of her face. "Hey, talk to me. What happened?"

She turned her gaze onto me. "Go, we'll talk when you get back." She hightailed it out of there.

Okay...

I knew it around time to head out for the mission so I trekked it down the stairs.

Corinne stood on the porch in a heated conversation with Deucalion that ceased as soon as they heard me approach.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"The van is ready," He gestured to the black van as blank as a fresh canvas.

A few of his men were already inside. Another black truck and motorcycle were in front of it.

I looked back at Deucalion. "You're not going?"

"Someone's got to cook dinner."

"Oh joy," I said sarcastically. I headed for the van.

"Malia," Corinne called.

I turned to her when I got in the van.

She gave a worried look. "Be careful."

My head nodded. I closed the door. "Let's go."

Engines roared to life and soon we were off down the highway.

Halfway through the ride I didn't feel well, maybe I was getting some type of Chimera sickness. Or maybe it was the stress for tonight to go without death. I knew that wasn't a possibility. Someone was going to die on either side.

The full moan caught my gaze out of the window.

My eyes burned blue in response. My fist pounded down onto the armrest.

"How much longer?" I demanded.

James, a handsome Mexican American in his early thirties with a trimmed beard, looked at me through the mirror as he drove. "Keep it together, Tate. We're almost there."

Pote, older in his mid fifties and straight from Mexico, tried to calm my rapidly beating heart that filled the car. "You're going to be okay. This'll be over before you know it."

My fist struck his nose. "Leave me the fuck alone, Pote."

He held his bleeding nose. "Fuck."

AJ, Bobby, and Cisco laughed in the back.

Brenda turned around in the passenger seat. "That's what you get for not minding your own business, Cabron. You know la loba is loca."

Pote wouldn't give me a shinner if his life depended on it. Given his work he was a decent guy. Maybe one of the nicest assholes in the whole bunch.

By the time we got as close to the warehouse as we could get without blowing our cover I was ready to vomit. Car sickness mixed with nerves didn't do me well.

"Let's do this quietly." James instructed.

He was like Deucalion's second, but he was hardly ever there due to running drugs on the side. To my understanding, everyone in this van was in on it, something Deucalion didn't have a problem with. If anything, that power only excited him further.

We jumped out the van, our weapons ready for fire as we stalked through the woods.

Bobby cleared his throat.

We all aimed our guns at him.

He held his hands up. "Easy," He whispered. "I'll keep watch."

I didn't have time for this. My anxiousness drove me to get this over with so I tipped my way forward.

"I'll stay behind with him." AJ said.

Brenda followed me.

James and Pote split off into two directions with their thick, black cases.

If I wasn't feeling so ill I'd have to admit that the darkness that fell on the branches and leaves with the moonlight sneaking past was almost exciting. Adrenaline coursed through my veins the closer we got to the warehouse.

They have a few guards on watch outside.

Brenda and I looked at each other and nodded.

She ruffled her hair, ripped her shirt in a few places, then smudged some dirt on her arms and face.

I stayed low to the ground while she stumbled forward in an obvious fashion.

The guards spotted her quickly, their guns trained on her.

"Stop right there!" One warned.

"Please," She cried, her hands raised. "You have to help me. He won't leave me alone."

The guards looked at each other in contemplation, long enough for one to drop from a bullet to the head.

I looked in the direction it came from.

James was on the ground with a sniper rifle.

I had to wonder had he been the one that blew my apartment to shit so long ago.

Another guard dropped thanks to James.

The last one standing drew his gun on Brenda but she had already drew hers. She pulled the trigger, the silencer took care of a distracting noise.

I ran forward, my blood pumped through my veins in the most delicious way. All of a sudden my nausea was gone. My nerves were gone. I was ready for the fight.

Pote was on the roof when I approached. He threw me a pair of special sunglasses Cisco concocted in the lab.

I fastened them on before he dropped the UV flasher down into the open hatch.

Mayhem ensued inside.

I kicked the door down. I was not expecting all guns to be pointed at me when I got inside.

Two bullets struck me in the stomach.

I fell back, weakened. I looked down to realize they weren't bullets but darts. What did they have on them? Besides the guns already in their hands there were no weapons in sight.

"It's a trap!" I yelled.

A few Hunters dropped from the spray of bullets that hit.

Brenda rushed inside to fight.

Pote wasn't far behind her.

They were holding their own but they were outnumbered.

The bullets stopped from outside. Where was James?

Shots were fired outside.

I cursed.

 _Come on_ , my mind told me. _Get up_.

With gritted teeth I fought the drugs that ran through me. My body could do whatever it had to once this was done.

Where were the weapons?

I listened closely and heard footsteps down below. There was another level.

"Cover me," I said, hoping someone would. I made a dash for the back door while being shot at. Luckily, none hit me.

My heart pounded in my chest with the closed door behind me. I looked down the stairs and saw fleeting shoes. I took them a few at a time.

A string of bullets flew down the hall just as I was about to enter it, I jumped back.

You could hear their defeated groans that turned null after their life gave way.

"You can come out now,"

I peered over to see James reloading both of his pistols. He had blood splattered on his clothes and face. No one should look handsome in that way but James did in his leather jacket and dark clothes.

"The weapons are in that room there," He pointed behind us. "There are a few in there guarding it. They knew we were coming."

We trained our weapons on the room.

"They must've figured out our M.O." I gestured with my head to upstairs. "They need you up there. I got it down here."

He ran off without a word.

Honestly, if I could get these weapons without harming anyone then I'd try my best but I knew in the back of my mind that it wasn't entirely an option given their profession and given what I was. I didn't agree with Deucalion's methods but he wasn't wrong about his agenda with this. They were the hunters and we were the hunted. Sue us for wanting to live.

I busted the door only to have a blank look on my face. There was no one inside, a recording played from a speaker system of beating hearts and hushed whispers. There were crates in the corner. I went to check them out to come up short. None of them held weapons or ammo.

That's when I heard I smelled the stench of Wolfsbane. It was coming out of the vents. A ticking came into earshot.

I dashed for the door. My hair flew behind me as I raced for the stairs in time enough to avoid the minor explosion down the hall. My feet quickly hit the top level. I rushed into a battle that I wasn't sure I wanted a part of.

The weapons had to be here. It was a stash house. So where were they?

Another explosion happened from downstairs. It caused a split in the floor. A Hunter held a jug of what I assumed was gasoline as he sprinkled it along the floor and walls before Brenda put a bullet in his head.

My eyes surveyed the room to find one last door.

A Hunter intercepted me with a punch to the temple that knocked me to the floor.

My vision blurred. I shook my head.

He was on top of me, his fists hit my face until I tasted blood.

My eyes glowed blue, I growled at him.

His hands wrapped around my throat and squeezed.

The airflow stopped and I couldn't breath. My eyes switched from blue to snake slits. I could feel my survival instinct triple.

I slithered my arm around his neck and snapped it, dumped his body off of me, then stood for another fight. I couldn't shake the thrill that filled me at the sound of his broken neck.

Another Hunter shot at me with real bullets this time. One hit my thigh.

I groaned as I sunk down to the floor on that leg, my other all the way out. I hissed at him.

A flash bomb arrow missed a target, it must've sparked the cement the right way because it caused a line of fire to spring to life along the spilled gasoline.

He grinned. "Ready to die, wolf bitch."

James shot him in the arm to distract him then went back to his fight.

The Hunter grabbed his arm in irritation.

My extended leg swept out to knock him on the cement floor. I grabbed him by the shirt, lifted him as much as I could then slammed him back down.

He spit up a little blood that made me want to see more.

My claws ripped into him, his blood splattered on my face. The flames felt delicious on my skin.

"We have to go, more are coming!" James warned.

Cisco came through the door.

They had taken care of the other Hunters. I had the only one left alive.

I heard the crunch of boots but I didn't care.

"Please." The Hunter beneath me begged for his life.

"What about the weapons?" I looked at James.

He shook his head.

"I found them in a truck outside. Their in the van, now let's go!" Cisco urged.

A dagger pierced my side.

I stilled at the pain.

Red, hot anger doused my pain. The heat of the flames burned the hairs on my arm. Scales spotted my skin. The hope I was holding onto earlier of not killing anyone here vanished completely.

My claws tore into his torso.

"Easy." James warned.

The extra bodies filled up the room.

My heart quickened double time. His blood soon covered me. Like earlier today I couldn't help but reveling in it. My hand rose to slash his throat. I closed my eyes at the enjoyment, a drizzle of blood slid to the corner of my mouth and I licked it away.

A scent filled the building chilled me to my core.

I looked up over the flames that quickly filled the building to see a few familiar faces. Peter, Argent, and Scott.

The brown pair of eyes that I feared that would see me as this monster stared right at me with horror on his face.

My eyes widened. I rose from the body.

Brenda shot at Argent.

He went down. Peter went to him.

I raised my hand to cease fire.

"Malia, we have to go." James reiterated. "Now!"

Scott stood his ground. His eyes still took me in with all my blood, all my scales, all my murderous ways.

I wanted to go to him. I'd walk right through the fire even if it meant I'd burn alive, but the look in his eyes stopped me.

"We've got to go too," Peter held Argent up.

"Come on, Malia!"

Tires screeched outside.

Peter ran for the door. "Scott!"

He held my gaze a moment longer then ran through just as part of the ceiling fell in the way.

We were trapped. The fire had spread too far to reach the windows.

"Now look what you've done," Brenda shouted at me.

I looked at James in apology.

Cisco let out a heavy sigh. "No one ask any questions." He held out his hand, his shoulder length hair glowed from the light of the fire. Out of nowhere a blueish, electrified hole appeared and grew until it resembled the breach that Isaac was kidnapped into.

"What the hell is that?" Brenda ran up to Cisco.

"Just trust me, it'll get us outside. AJ and Pote are in the van already." He gestured for us to go through it.

It was either die in here or go through the breach.

Fuck it.

I ran and jumped through, I landed on the ground outside by the van with a groan. My thigh throbbed.

James came through next. "Get in the van." He headed for the driver's side.

AJ got out, he helped me stand.

"I got it."

He rolled his eyes, then jumped inside.

I sat in the back.

Brenda sat next to AJ.

Cisco planted himself by me.

We were off just before the explosion.

"Is everyone okay?" AJ asked.

"We got the weapons, that's all that matters." Pote said.

I looked back at the fleeting car or Argent's.

Scott sat in the back seat, he turned around.

We locked gazes.

I didn't know what to say. What was there to say? We were on different sides now. Neither of us had expected him to see me kill like that. We've killed before trying to get Kylie from Deucalion's clutches, but this was different. This was me on the side of the bad guys, killing and enjoying it when I didn't have to.

My gaze lowered, shame filled me.

We were out of reach soon enough anyway that it didn't matter.

"Ramon, do you want to explain to me what the hell that was back there?" James asked stiffly.

Cisco looked out the window. "Can you drop it?"

"Drop it?" He glanced back at him. "You did the impossible and you want us to let it go?"

"Yeah!" Cisco exploded. "That's what I want, James! Let that shit go!" He lowered in the seat.

My fingers dug the bullet out of my thigh, I tore off a piece of my shirt, then wrapped it around my thigh tightly. I hoped it would hold up until we got back to Deucalion's.

I briefly wondered how we were able to get back to the estate when the whole reason for Braeden being there was to keep that from being possible, but I realized she had to have lifted it. Or maybe it didn't exist in the first place. No, it definitely did because I couldn't remember how to get there when she and I went to go check out the breach.

Wait, was Cisco involved with that? Did he know something?

I was about to voice as much when James laid down on the brakes suddenly.

"What the hell?" Brenda said something in Spanish.

A woman around the same age as James stood in the middle of the street in our headlights. She had long, curly, dark hair that stuck to her face a little from sweat. She wore a pink top that accentuated her breasts, blue jeans, and tan ankle boots. She had scrapes and bruises along her face.

"Please, help me!" She begged, her hispanic accent thick.

"It could be a trap." AJ warned.

James and Pote got out anyway.

"What's your name?" James asked.

The woman looked at him with wary eyes. "Teresa."

He looked at Pote, then back at her. "Teresa, what are you running from?"

She pulled her gun fairly quickly for a human. "Give me your truck." The gun shook at James.

Pote knocked on her the back of the head.

James caught her.

"Let's go, we're wasting time."

AJ opened the side door.

James placed her on the floor. "Keep an eye on her, check her for other weapons."

I didn't think she'd be around long so I didn't bother studying her. The pain in my leg was too distracting. I knew no one here cared enough to take it.

We were back at the house soon enough after our distraction.

Deucalion stepped onto the porch with Braeden beside him.

"Let her out, we've got to drop off the cargo," James said as he got out. He headed for the porch to speak with Deucalion. "We've got a situation. There's a girl on the run. She saw our faces. I don't know what to do with her."

Cisco moved so I could get out.

"Take her back to the warehouse. I'm on my way." Deucalion answered.

James nodded.

"What happened to you?" Braeden asked.

I walked past them with a limp. "I need a shower." I started up the stairs.

Corinne came out of her room and paused at the top of the stairs with frightened eyes. "Oh, Mija."

Out of nowhere my eyes stung. I couldn't push back the reality of seeing Scott for the first time in days and him seeing me at my worst. Had it only been a week? It felt like much more. The pain in my thigh wasn't the worst of all.

She moved to hug me despite my appearance.

My head shook. "I need to be alone." I carefully stripped down in my room then ran a bath.

I soaked in the tub, knowing I'd have to shower off the grit after.

My bedroom door opened. Braeden stood in the bathroom doorway.

I sighed. "I don't have the energy to do this with you right now."

Her head shook. "Truce."

My forehead creased. She was conceding already?

"Okay," I agreed.

She remained in the doorway.

I stared at her. "This is the part where you leave."

The smirk in her eyes were gone, she seemed different. Calmer.

"You wanted to know why I stuck by Deucalion's side knowing full well what he's done and will do," She ventured into the bathroom to sit on the closed toilet.

My interest returned. I nodded.

She let out a heavy breath. "I'm an Emissary. His emissary," She looked down. "We usually work as advisers to packs as a whole but my family is different."

I've heard of them. I was almost certain Scott's pack had one in high school but I couldn't remember his name.

"Different how?" I asked.

"My family works for his so to speak, a debt we'll be paying off as long as his line goes on. It's more of a pact really."

"Why not break the pact and take care of him instead? You see how evil he is, what he does to children. Why are you condoning that?"

"I'm not!" She finally broke.

Finally after days of her acting like everything was okay.

"My family and his made that pact long ago when the race wars were anything but Civil." Her eyes stared into mine with little hope that I'd understand. "His family helped mine escape slavery in exchange for our protection against the anti abolitionist. That tradition got passed down even when they needed less protecting we still had it drilled into us from a young age that their lives were our duty. Without it we lack purpose. Without it we would've ceased to exist."

There was no way I couldn't not understand that. It didn't make it okay, but I understood it.

"So I can't just leave this all behind. He's my responsibility." Her voice shook.

Now I understood completely. She was afraid of him. Maybe she didn't know it but she was.

She stood after a few reflective moments.

"Was that what you wanted to talk about earlier?"

She headed for the door. "No, but we can talk about it tomorrow."

"Braeden," I called in annoyance. "Just tell me."

Her head shook. She sank to the floor by the tub. Her eyes attempted to relax mine. "I suspected earlier today with all of obvious mood swings but I wasn't sure until I did a full body scan..." She hesitated.

I leaned forward. "Come on, spit it out."

She licked her lips, regret filled her. "There's no easy way to say this...You're pregnant, Malia."

My body froze.

I must've not heard her right. She said I was pregnant. That was a laugh. I couldn't be pregnant. I wasn't ready. I was in this shitty situation. I wasn't with Scott or anyone. I couldn't be pregnant.

"I'm sorry, I thought you said I was pr-"

"I did." She sighed.

I faced forward. So my car sickness and nausea weren't from the stress of tonight's mission. It was because there was a baby growing inside of me.

She began to leave. "I'll go if you want."

My hand came out the water to grab hers. I wanted to speak but no words would come.

She simply nodded and sat with me while I attempted to process this life-changing information.

SCOTT'S POV:

I held Argent in my arms in the back seat of his car. My hands were covered in blood.

He was bleeding too fast from his chest.

"Drive faster!" I yelled at Peter.

He snapped. "I'm driving as fast as I can without getting a ticket!" He slammed his hand onto the wheel. "Scott, you have to bite him."

Argent's blue eyes held mine. He gave a weak head shake.

"Scott!" Peter yelled.

Tears streamed down his face. "Tell Allison I love her." He coughed up more blood. His heartbeat was faint but still there.

My head shook. I pressed into his chest. "No, you're going to make it. Just hold on. You're going to be okay."

"If you let her dad die she will never forgive you, bite him now!" Peter sped up the car.

No. I couldn't do it. I did it to Liam, a decision I'd have to live with for the rest of my life. I wasn't going to do this to a dying man that I respected that wanted no part of that life.

"I'm sorry," I told him.

He gave a weak smile. "It's okay, son."

This wasn't okay.

Allison would be crushed.

We shouldn't have done this. We should've waited until the others got back. This was my fault. He shouldn't have been there.

His ragged breathing came to an end, his eyes on the roof of the car.

My eyes closed. My heart hardened. I let out a frustrated scream.

Peter stopped the car. He looked back only to hit the steering wheel once more. "Dammit!"

With Argent's blood wet on my hands I came to the conclusion that I didn't want to in order to more avoid blood shed.

My jaw clenched.

Peter looked back at me.

"This is war."

He nodded after a moment then started the car back up.

A/N: SO SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT. I don't know if I told yall but I've gotten promoted at my job so I'm working, covering shifts more. If there any inconsistencies that yall see let me know, I had to rush and finish writing in order to get this out cuz I have family coming into town over the weekend for my granny's bday so I wouldn't have time to work on this until next week had I not rushed. Anyway, let me know what yall think of this chapter please. I really need your feedback because the story is definitely changing. Until Summer can update her fic for the crossover I can't do anything with those characters (she's really busy with classes and sports) so I'll be working on these characters primarily until then because I want her to be able to do what she needs to with my characters on her Earth.

For anyone wondering, yes Cisco is Cisco from The Flash. And yes, James and Teresa are from Queen Of The South, both are on Netflix. Side note: James and Teresa are hot fire so if anyone likes Cartel shows check that out. I wanted to start a fic about them but figured this would be the best and most interesting way to broaden the world and keep it interesting with new characters. Check out this James and Teresa fanvid if you want to see how they interact/their chemistry: Teresa&James┃Loѕт oɴ yoυ By kindon18 on YouTube


	23. Heal

Tom Odell - Heal felt appropriate for this chapter.

MALIA'S POV:

After several minutes of processing about the possible pregnancy, I rose from the tub.

Braeden's brow lifted before she handed me a towel. She cleared her throat. "Do you need anything?"

Not to see here and do nothing. I needed to get my hands dirty. Metaphorically. I was bored.

I wrapped the towel around me after I pulled the plug on the tub, then passed her to find clothes.

"Where are you going?" She asked once I slid on a black leather jacket.

"To the warehouse." I glanced at her. "Is that a problem?"

She opened her mouth to say something, then shook her head in silence.

"Good, now drive." I walked to the door.

Her hand pulled me back by the arm. "Malia, you shouldn't ignore this."

My forehead creased. "Do I need to drive myself?"

She let go of her hold. Her brown eyes with a little green looked wary. They stayed that way the entire ride over to the warehouse.

"We can talk about it if you want." She offered.

I ignored her.

As soon as the car came to a stop I pushed the door open and jumped out.

James, AJ, and Pote started for the van.

"Where's the girl?" I asked.

James leaned against the door of the driver's side. "Teresa," He stared back at the building briefly. "Deucalion's doing his thing. She's being tight-lipped. She'll break eventually." He nodded toward Braeden. "What are you two doing here this late?"

She shoved her hands into her back pockets. "I'm babysitting. You doing the drop?"

AJ stuck his head out the window to grin at Braeden. His curly mane fell past his shoulders, a smirk on his handsome face. "How much to babysit me, Chiquita?"

Her head tilted as she stared at him. "Not even all the money in the world would make up for five minutes with you, Alex Jon."

He smiled a sexy dimpled smile at her before he sat back.

I could feel her blush from here.

"What happened tonight needs to not happen again. We need to discuss alternatives."

James nodded. "I'll be back in a few hours. Tell him not to go all Demon Wolf on her, not yet at least."

I nodded.

He got in.

I looked through the window at Pote. "Sorry about the nose," I gave a sheepish grin.

He grunted, then cracked his neck. His gaze fell out his window.

Braeden and I started for the front door.

"Later, Chiquita," AJ called after Braeden.

She gave a slight shake of the head before throwing a look over her shoulder.

His laughter could be heard for miles.

We entered the almost chaos to be directed down the second floor where Isaac was held prisoner.

Deucalion had Teresa shackled to the same table.

I suddenly couldn't help but hope her fate wouldn't end up on the same road as Isaac's.

She didn't look to have any new bruises or wounds. Her brown eyes landed on us as we walked to Deucalion.

"She's tough, I'll give her that." He admitted to us.

Braeden walked around the room, inspecting it for Witch stuff I guess.

"She's scared, on the run." She voiced.

I sighed. "I could've guessed that."

She turned her gaze to me. "But can you reach into her past through her mind?" Her heeled boots clicked against the cement when she walked over to Teresa. She briefly met Deucalion's gaze then placed her hands on Teresa's head. "This will be easier if you try and relax. I'm not going to hurt you."

Teresa still tensed at the action.

Braeden's eyes closed, her lips parted as she muttered things words under her breath.

I glanced at Deucalion.

He gave a nod in good faith.

I turned back to watch the scene unfold.

SCOTT'S POV:

Peter and I pulled up in an empty spot in the woods. He grabbed two shovels from his trunk.

I gave him a look.

He held his arm out. "What? It came in handy didn't it?"

We dug until it was deep enough to put his body.

My hands wouldn't stop shaking. Guilt riddled within me heavily.

Allison would never forgive me. She would be crushed. She would hate me. She would be devastated. She'd never see her dad again, not how like he used to be.

We couldn't hold onto a decaying body for who knew how long it would take her to come back to our Earth. So we had to bury him now.

But when it came time to actually put him in the hole and cover his body with dirt my hand covered my mouth. I shot up and ran only to let it all out a few feet away by a tree. My hand rested on the harsh bark. Tears sprung to my eyes.

"I can't do this," I admitted with my head hung low as I bent down.

Peter planted his shovel into the ground. "Your dad's on the way," He sighed. "He'll help me with this. We don't have to bury him. We can make a cover story. One without you in it." He came in front of me.

I looked up at him. I wanted to be angry that he'd brought my dad into this once again without asking but I was instead grateful.

He handed me the car keys. "Go. We'll clean this up."

I stared at him wondering how he came to be someone I could actually depend on when I wanted nothing more than to feel his heart crush in my hand months ago. It was our love for his daughter that let us work together and that was solely the reason. I couldn't figure out if he remembered me or not if he knew that I blamed him, if he could tell that I wanted to kill him back at the house when Malia and I got there.

I took the keys from his hand with a thankful nod, then got in the car like a coward with my tail between my legs. It should be me who buried Argent, not Peter and my dad.

There was open road ahead of me and somehow I ended up at the diner in my booth. It felt like I hadn't been here for ages. Before I entered I made sure to zip up my jacket to hide the blood on my shirt, then I went to the bathroom to hurriedly wash my hands. They still held a tinge of red no matter how many times I seemed to wash them.

The booth felt extremely empty without Malia sitting across from me, eating her gross combination of fries with ice cream.

Doris made her way over to me. "You haven't been here in awhile."

I nodded. "Sorry," I gave a lame apology that wasn't necessary.

She gestured the empty space. "Where's your girl?"

My eyes grew far away. "I wish I could tell you."

She stayed quiet enough for me to look up at her. "I'm sure she'll come back around."

While I appreciated her faith in us I didn't have it to believe in.

"The usual?" She asked.

I gave a weak nod. When she turned I said, "Hey, Doris."

She faced me again.

"Can you add an order of fries to that."

She nodded. "Sure thing."

It felt like I was losing my mind. It felt like everything was going wrong without Malia like there was nothing worth having in the foreseeable future, and I hated that feeling of it never ending, of drudging the mud aimlessly.

Doris eventually placed my chocolate milkshake and plate of fries in front of me. "It's on the house, kid."

Lifting my head up felt like too much effort so I mumbled a thank you, then she left. I sipped on my milkshake, grabbed a fry then dipped it in the shake. Surprisingly, it wasn't half bad. But it did little to feel the void of the dark-haired woman that I wanted by my side forever.

The door chimed to signal a new customer.

I hadn't expected Kylie to slide into the booth.

Maybe it was her relationship to Malia but I couldn't hold it together when I saw her. My eyes poured over with tears as I silently wept.

She quickly came over to my side of the table to hug me. "It's going to be okay."

No, it wasn't. That much became clear the moment I saw her over that fire. She was something else, something that had completely changed her. Whatever Deucalion had done to her she was enjoying it. I knew that because he was nowhere in sight when she killed that guy. Sure, we'd killed together to get Kylie back but that was in a rage that was justified through rescuing a rape victim. Malia killed for only the reason she knew but she outwardly enjoyed it, enough to have a smile on her face while she did it.

I didn't like the possibility but I had to entertain the thought of what would happen if Deucalion got his hands on all of us?

LYDIA'S POV:

My eyes attempted to hit the snooze button a few times before I caught a glimpse of my surroundings. Not recognizing them, I came to full attention as I sat up in the hotel bed. The air conditioning chilled my bare nipples so I pulled the sheets to my breasts.

I tried to retrieve my memories from last night but they were a little hazy. All I remembered was babysitting Kylie, getting asked to come out, not wanting to go but Peter encouraged me to go. So I made the much needed rounds to the frat houses. I got dolled up because I wanted to feel like I was actually going somewhere for that one night out of the other shitty nights that surrounded it. The drinks kept coming, I talked to people, but beyond that, I couldn't pinpoint my last steps.

"Hello?" I called out.

No one answered.

An icy fear trickled in me at the soreness in my vagina, a sign that I'd had sex. But I didn't remember having sex. Or who it could've been with.

My eyes turned foggy at the realization that something bad happened, something that I thought wouldn't ever happen again. I tried to laugh it off. I could've checked myself in there and masturbated. I could've stuck something in me, but what?

I got to my feet and tipped around the room to dig in the trash. Fear held me frozen at the sight of the used condom amongst the wrapper and alcohol bottle. I didn't feel like I was going to throw up from a hangover, I remembered I didn't have that much. So the only other option was that I was roofied.

Again, I tried to shake it off. Maybe it wasn't that great for me to remember. No, I knew that was a stupid excuse that held no validity.

I quickly got dressed and grabbed my phone without looking back.

After my early Deucalion days, I thought I'd never know such shame. I thought I'd never have to walk around and wonder if people knew what had happened to me. I was wrong.

My body shook with a coldness that I knew wouldn't go away. My skin held a familiar itch that wouldn't stop no matter how many times I scrubbed until I turned red. My heart felt like it was inches away from breaking. Anything could saw it in half at that point.

All I wanted was to feel like a young adult for five seconds...and I was punished for it.

Somehow I found myself in the Student Health center asking the person behind the desk for an examination.

She stared at me with the understanding of what I needed it for. She asked what she needed to ask.

I followed her back to her area of work.

She closed the door behind us. "What's the time frame that you're concerned about?"

I sat on the medical bed. My focus was greyed out at the wall ahead of me. "Between last night and this morning."

She nodded as she wrote on a chart. "Do you have an idea of who the perpetrator might be?" Her eyes felt heavy on me.

My head shook. I was beginning to feel a bit numb.

"Alright, honey. If you're up for it I can begin the rape kit?"

My eyes went to hers. "Please, don't call it that."

She nodded some more. "Sorry. I can begin the testings if you're comfortable?"

I didn't have a choice. I wanted a definitive answer but I couldn't say that so I just nodded some more.

"Typically, you'd do this at a hospital but being a college we thought it fit to have testings available, it's more private that way. You're going to have to undress from the waist down, sweetie."

I did it because it had to be done.

She washed her hands, gloved up, and came at me with a long cotton swab. "I'm going to get an oral sample first."

The cotton material rubbed along the inside of my cheek, it was fairly easy to ignore.

"Now if you're comfortable, I'm going to get a vaginal sample," Her voice was soothing.

I laid on my back, the bright fluorescent lights blinded me. I spread my legs so she could get it over with.

One of her blue gloved hands rested on my thigh while the other took a new swab and inserted it into my vagina.

The rush of tears didn't surprise me but I wasn't prepared for them at the feel of the coarse material inside of me against my vaginal walls. The weight of it all opened me up for more tears. My head fell to the side of the bed as I silently cried.

When she realized I wasn't okay she discarded of her gloves and rushed to my side for a hug that I completely needed.

MALIA'S POV:

With the information we got from Braeden out of Teresa's mind we called it a day and put her away in a secure room with a guard. I knew Deucalion well enough to know that it was a test to see if she could get out. I only prayed that she wouldn't be of interest to him, which I knew was naive thinking. He was interested.

Back at the house, I sat downstairs on the porch in one of two rocking chairs. I had a blanket wrapped around me that did very little to remove the chill from my body even with the rocking of the chair.

Braeden had told Deucalion to give me some space which he listened to surprisingly.

My arms tucked into my stomach.

Was there really something growing in there?

I wasn't ready to be a parent, I was still figuring out my own shit. How could I figure that out on top of raising a baby? How would we both survive this world?

I couldn't help but wonder if it this was this world's version of Alex or Mel? That kind of thinking was too heavy for me to wrap my head around. The thing inside me wasn't something that I could deal with.

Something in me told me something was wrong with Lydia, that she needed me. As much as I wanted to go to her, and I thought I could find her through our bond, she had the others. She could handle it.

The front door opened a bit later. Braeden stepped out to sit in the chair a few feet away from me.

"We don't have to talk but we can." She offered. "I'm here." She stared forward at the line of trees that circled us for miles.

We sat in silence for a bit.

Once I came to a solution, I gathered the courage to say, "I need you to get rid of it."

She stared at me, shocked that I'd ask. "You want me to kill it for you?"

I nodded.

"No," She shook her head. "No, I can't. That's a b-" She took a deep breath. "Malia, I can do a lot of things to help you through this but I can't do what you're asking."

Anger rose inside of me. "Why not? You're a powerful Witch. Surely you can do this one thing." I suggested with a sense of entitlement.

Her eyes narrowed. "Not this. Bringing someone back to life is taxing but taking it away is a whole other story. I've never done it and I don't ever want to do using my magic. It goes against the laws, against what it stands for."

"You stood by while innocent girls were raped and now you're choosing to do take the moral high ground?" My tone ice cold.

"I'm not perfect, okay!" She defended as she rose. "I didn't end up like you with a pack of friendly people willing to lay their life on the line for me. I had to make my family the only way I knew how." She gestured to the house. "He protected me when I was on the run."

"On the run from who?"

Her head shook. "You don't want to know. Damn Vampire was scary as shit."

My interest was piqued. I'd never come into contact with one.

"You think Deucalion is bad but you've only scratched the surface of evil with him." She promised. She headed for the door, then stopped to look back at me. "I'm sorry that this happened to you and I can't go back to make up for my past mistakes but I'm not helping you destroy life. Not when it came from a place of love." With those last words, she entered the house.

Sure, it came from a place of love but did that matter if it wouldn't have a life I could give it? Somehow death was better than the possibility of it having the life I did or Kylie did. And I suddenly understood why she did what she did in the bathroom. While I wasn't about to kill myself I was thinking of killing the baby to protect it.

Then I thought of what Scott would say, not that he'd ever find out. Even so, he'd be really disappointed. I mean, neither of us wanted to raise a baby but I had a feeling he'd want to be a part of its life.

I hated how much I actually ached for him to have kneeled in front of me with his hand on my flat belly and tears in his eyes. There felt like there were oceans between us now. I wanted him and I knew I always would.

My eyes closed to picture his warm smile. I could almost feel his arms wrapped around me as he held me in the rocking chair, his flat hand on my stomach. I could hear his reassuring words whispered into my hair, "I don't know about a lot of things but I do know about me, you, and this kid. We're going to make this work. I'm not going anywhere, Malia Elizabeth Tate." His voice echoed in my head. "You hear me?"

A faint smile crossed my face and was gone before it had any staying power. That future would never happen. At least, I didn't see any foreseeable road that would get us there.

Maybe I could run away? Maybe if I kept this thing then we could go anywhere so it could live a happy, supernatural drama free life.

Corinne came onto the porch. "Hey,"

I didn't want to face her.

"I'm here if you want to talk or do something."

No part of me wanted to relay the news to her. Partly to protect the damn thing, which I knew was ironic considering I was considering not keeping it, and partly because I feared I'd go down her path if it was born, doomed to repeat the mistakes of my mother.

I stood. "I'm good." I wasn't rude or nasty with my delivery. I was almost somber.

Her look of defeat didn't escape me before I went inside.

SCOTT'S POV:

In the morning, we all gathered at my apartment.

The overall mood was nothing short of melancholy. It seeped in through the windows and under the doors, in the cracks in the walls as if it would always accompany us.

Lydia arrived last, her look of distance could be from anything that happened in the past two months.

She stood on edge by the door. "Where's Argent?" Her words laced with the answer to her own question.

I stared at her until my eyes went to my Dad.

He turned to her with a professionalism having done this many times before as a Federal Agent. He delivered the news but I didn't hear the words.

Kylie's hand grabbed mine.

Lydia all but fled.

I was going to go after her but Kylie pulled me back and went after her herself.

KYLIE'S POV:

I got into Lydia's car before she could drive off.

Whatever she was going through, however, she felt I noticed how I'd been there before. That's why I followed her. That's why I respected her quiet coldness. That's why I knew the second she was alone she'd explode.

She kept her tears at bay until the front door was locked behind us at Malia's apartment.

I watched as she internally disintegrated to the wood floor.

Her hands crushed to her chest, her silent sob broke with a final cry. "Allison."

While I wasn't very good at these things, I tried to be for Scott, I knew I had to go to her too. My arms hugged her to me so she could let everything out.

We never talked about what happened to us in Deucalion's clutches but maybe soon was a good idea. I could tell that something else had happened from the broken look in her normally tough eyes. I held that same look before. Our eyes were very similar, maybe I didn't realize just how much.

I didn't know if I believed the words but I had to say them. "One day we're all going to heal."

Maybe she would but I didn't think I ever would.

We continued on like that, holding onto each other because I actually needed this too. My eyes drifted to the window sill to her bedroom where Allie Cat sat.

She blinked at me and somehow I felt just a little bit better.

BRAEDEN'S POV:

After my dispute with Malia, I needed to leave the house again so I went back to the only other place I could feel comfortable at, as comfortable as I could feel.

I headed toward AJ. "Hey, is James back?"

He grinned at my presence. "What are you looking for James for, Chiquita?"

My eyes rolled. "I'm not in the mood, AJ. Is he here or not?"

"You're never in the mood, that's what I like about you."

Good lord.

Brenda passed by with a lollipop. "He's downstairs on shift."

"I thought one the disposables were watching over her." I turned to her.

"No sé," She patted AJ on the shoulder and began speaking in Spanish that went beyond me.

I took the stairs down to Teresa's makeshift holding cell.

James stood out of sight of the door, he turned his head at my arrival. He nodded.

I gave a nod back, then passed him to look in the room to find her asleep. I went to lean against the wall across from James. "Does she know you're here?"

He looked at me then away.

He wasn't a man of words a lot of the time. When he did speak he had something to say and people listened. He had a reputation of not caring about people, getting the job done. That's how it worked in Cartels. So I had to wonder why he was down here when he didn't need to be.

I slid to the floor.

After a while, he did the same.

"You hear anything?" I asked as nonchalantly as possible.

He stared at an in-between space before him. "Nothing yet. I'll let you know when I do."

That didn't make me feel better. It was already hard to sleep at night.

His brown eyes looked up at mine. "Klaus can't find you remember. Not with your protection wards."

I nodded. He was right.

"Even if he did he wouldn't get past us." He assured.

I wasn't just worried about me now. The life Malia had brewing in her was magic on its own and I couldn't help but be mesmerized by it. I didn't want any harm to come of it because of me. Especially not from a Devilish Vampire with a grudge against my family. Not if I could execute this plan without getting myself killed.

"He won't," James said again.

This time I closed my eyes and relaxed. My mind found the overprotective and dangerous Alpha that Deucalion wanted so badly he'd kill for him.

Scott sat on his bed, his sad eyes far away. Darkness surrounded him.

I hadn't done this in a while and never with someone I wasn't connected to but I had to try.

My mind reached out to his. _Scott_ , I sent to him. _Scott, if you can hear me I'm trying to help you, but I need your help too._

A/N: What did yall think? SIDE NOTE: GUESS WHO GOT AN APARTMENT?! This bitch! I'm moving in January. I snatched my own self with how nice it is. Anyway, make sure yall are reading Etherealmindss chapters because my characters are still over there. Some will be back shortly though. While our stories are very similar we both have very different plots going on. I know a lot of stuff that she has planned and I'm excited to fucking read it so I hope yall are too! :D PLEASE REVIEW.

How are yall feeling about MAlia's pregnancy? How do yall like Braeden's development? Would you like to see more with her and AJ? How do you feel about James and Teresa so far? :) Again, I highly recommend watching Queen of the South on netflix to see them interact. It's a lot like Bellarke in survival mode protect each other. If you don't want to watch the show to catch their vibe I recommend watching this fanvid on youtube: Teresa&James┃Loѕт oɴ yoυ by Kindon18


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